SPIDER MAN 6
by KiloWhiskeyOscar
Summary: Winter has come and Peter and Mary Jane embark on their honeymoon without a care in the world... until Venom suddenly reappears. With the threat of his secret identity's revelation looming, Spider-Man must take the fight to Venom. But when an even greater threat emerges to bring new found horror, these rivals must become allies to end the nightmare of the monster known as Carnage.
1. Not So Silent Night

Disclaimer: I'm BAAACCCKKKKK! After a much deserve reprieve, I'm back to present the final entry in the Spider-Man fanfiction series. No, I don't own the rights to Spider-Man.

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SPIDER-MAN  
6

Chapter I  
Not So Silent Night

_It's yours truly again, the Amazing, Spectacular, Sensational… yeah, all those clichés that people up with when it come to me. My life has been on a high note lately. New York City is, at least for the most part, safe and sound and the people love me. There haven't been any major super villains since the Hobgoblin. Best of all, I've finally married the woman of my dreams. Life couldn't get any better than this. Of course with my kind of luck, change is always certain._

On any other day throughout the year, New York City would be rife the usual chaos for which it was associated. That would be one of many good reasons as to why it was called "The City that Never Sleeps." But this was not the case in the middle of December, when many people were getting into the Christmas spirit. New York Police Captain Jean DeWolff was more akin to Ebenezer Scrooge, in that she had no Christmas spirit whatsoever. The job didn't offer that, and Jean was far too busy to care regardless. With the police siren blaring atop her 1954 Cadillac Eldorado warning for a clear path, Jean raced down 82nd Avenue to a most chaotic crime scene, perpetrated by a most chaotic individual.

Jean grabbed the radio receiver and spoke loud and strong into it. "This is Capt. DeWolff, en route to the corner of 82nd and Lexington, over."

A small amount of static came from the receiver follow a man's voice. "This is Lt. Carter, on the corner of 82nd and Lexington. Suspect has been cornered inside a condemned building and we are awaiting further orders."

"I'm less than 7 minutes from the area," DeWolff said. "Do not attempt to apprehend the suspect until I get there, Carter. You get me?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Jean DeWolff rammed the gas pedal into the floorboard and raced faster down the avenue. Thanks God the snowplows cleared the street of any slush from the recent snowstorm. That last thing Jean needed was to plow directly into some department store. She far more than simply doubted that the guy she was after would wait. Hell, he would've enjoyed the violence.

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The scene at the corner of 82nd and Lexington was one of total anarchy, with about four or five NYPD squad cars parked in the street. Lt. Stan Carter had his hands more than just full keeping things in order. That, and the innocent spectators tended to get involve. Times like this prompted Carter to wish he had a desk job. An old school 1950's style vehicle came around the corner like it was shot out of a cannon. Capt. Jean DeWolff came out of the driver's side just as quickly. She immediately stormed toward the police barricade situated in front of the orphanage. Without warning, some sort of object came flying out of a window. Carter knew exactly what it was and pulled DeWolff down behind a squad car. The object impacted the street just a few feet away and exploded.

Jean looked at the fiery blaze, stunned, and then turned to Stan. "I guess I'm right on time for the bonfire. What's the situation here?"

Stan and Jean stood up from their cover spot, and Stan stated, "He's hold up on the forth floor and he's got a virtual arsenal up there with him. He's already took out four of our people."

"Then it's time to get to work," Jean steadfastly announced, taking a megaphone from the squad car. Holding the device to her lips, Jean announced, "This is NYPD Capt. Jean DeWolff. Cletus Kasady, you are under arrest. Surrender now and come out with your hands up," No answer came, so Jean said, "I repeat, surrender and come out now, Kasady."

Another object, now confirmed to be a grenade, flew out from the window and was headed right for the barricade. Jean and Stan ducked, as did most of the other officers, while the grenade came to rest by a park squad car. Nothing happened! Jean and Stan slowly rose up from hiding and stared at the device. They concluded that it must've been a dud. That was until in detonated and sent the ill-fated car flying into the air in a ball of flame and car parts. Shotgun fire followed from the window and pinned the cops down. The gun fire was itself followed, not by more gun fire, but the maniacal, psychotic laughter of the man called Cletus Kasady.

Jean rose from cover again with Stan. "We aren't getting anywhere with this crap. We've got to get in there."

"I can set up a distraction for about 45 seconds," Stan said. "That should be enough for you and a small group to sneak in the back."

"I guess that'll have to do," Jean said. "Get that distraction ready, Carter. I'll take three officers and sneak in through the fire escape."

"Got it covered," said Stan. As Jean was about to get to work, Stan called out to her, "Captain, you like your job?"

Jean didn't see much relevance in the question and asked Stan, "What do you mean?"

"The guy up there; Kasady," Stan said. "He absolutely loves his. Be careful up there."

Capt. DeWolff nodded to the concern shown from Lt. Carter before moving out of the barricade. Choosing three officers and back up, Capt. DeWolff started her toward the nearest alleyway. Meanwhile, Lt. Carter gave an order and the remaining officer opened fire on the building in which Kasady had taken refuge. It should've been more than enough to distract him while DeWolff snuck her team in the back. One could hope!

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At the Daily Bugle, the cigar chomping Editor-in-Chief J. Jonah Jameson had his beady eyes glued to the monitor, watching the telecast of the standoff.

_"If you're just joining us, NYPD authorities have cornered recently escaped serial killer Cletus Kasady in an abandoned apartment building on 82__nd__ and Lexington. Kasady is wanted in connection to the murders of three NYPD officers, four civilians and one state official."_

The details were something to which Jonah shook his head in astonishment. "It amazing to me that just one man can hold the entire NYPD at bay like that."

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, the Bugle's City Editor and Jonah's long time friend, had his own opinion of Cletus Kasady. "From what I've read Jonah, Cletus Kasady is more like a monster. He's done things even the Daily News won't print."

"In that case, we better get the best damn photos we can," Jonah said. "I want Kasady's capture to make our front page."

Ted Hoffman, who was standing next to Betty Brant, whispered to her, "If they _do_ catch him."

Too bad Jonah could hear Hoffman anyway and he snarled, "Don't you have anyone else to annoy?"

"I'm not sure we can rely on Peter to get the photos…" Robbie said. "…considering he'll be taking time off for his honeymoon with his wife."

"What," Jonah snapped. "The nerve of that little punk, putting his love life before his job… and with that redheaded floozy that left my son standing at the alter like a goof."

Robbie, to his credit, ignored Jonah's rant and added, "I did send that new photographer down to the scene. I think his name was Ben Reilly."

"Well, for his sake," Jonah started back to his office. "He better use the fastest route he knows."

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Jean DeWolff led her follow officers into the darkened halls of the apartment building that Cletus Kasady occupied. It was just a question of which room the maniac was hiding in. Jean went further in with the officers following behind her, a flashlight in one hand and her gun in the other. Dammit, which room was Kasady hiding in? He could just as easily deduced the previous distraction and gotten away. Jean wasn't looking to take that chance. Using hand signals, she had each officer check a room. Jean would check a room also and came up to a single closed door at the end of the hall. It was a 50/50 chance that Kasady was in there, waiting to ambush Jean at a moments notice. Jean took that chance. She kicked the door and had her gun and flashlight pointed into the room. Nothing. Kasady was nowhere to be found. Jean pointed the light at each wall of the room and then at the only available window. If Kasady had already gone out the window, he'd be arrested already. Or dead. He'd at least have a broken leg. Jean slowly approached the window and look, not noticing the door behind slowly and silently closing. When Jean turned to leave the room and was suddenly backhanded to the floor. She made a grab for her discarded sidearm but it kicked away and Jean herself was pinned down by Cletus Kasady. Kasady had a manically twisted grin that most definitely matched with the unruly red head on his head.

"Hey there, Jeanie. It's been a long time since we last hooked up."

Jean tried to get free but Kasady was too heavy. "Not… long enough, Kasady."

Kasady inched his face closer to Jean's, grinning all the while. "You know, this place is very, very special to me. I was born here. My mom? She hated me. She beat me in a drunken rage and my old man killed her."

"I heard this story," Jean snarled, still trying to get free. "How'd you repay your dad? Oh yeah, you had him sent to death row."

"I guess all's well that end's well, because I turned out just fine," Kasady pulled out a knife. "Speaking of _fine_…" He slowly traced the blade tip down Jean's jacket. "Let's see what you look like under these clothes."

Kasady reared the knife back, ready to deliver the killing blow. Jean struggle to get free but to no avail. Kasady made a one motion and was a second from driving the knife into Jean's person. Suddenly, the knife was yanked out of his hand. A second later, Kasady was thrown off of Jean by a pair of costumed feet and he hit the wall. When he looked up, Kasady was face to face with the red and blue clad figure of Spider-Man, who was perched on the windowsill.

"Sorry, Kasady, but there won't be any dissecting tonight."

Kasady picked himself up off the floor and said, "Oh, man! I was hoping I'd run into you, Spider-Man." In a flash, Kasady grabbed Jean used her as a shield to keep Spider-Man at bay.

"Let her go." Spider-Man demanded.

"Oh sure, man, why don't you take off the mask and show us what you look like," Kasady tightened his grip on Jean's neck. He pulled out a gun and pressed the barrel into Jean's head. "Otherwise, I give Jeanie here a new breathing hole."

"Forget about me, Spider-Man," Jean coughed. "Just take this guy out."

Spider-Man took a big chance and fired a web line that snagged the gun out of Kasady's hand. This distraction gave Jean the opening she needed. She violently jammed her foot down into her captors' foot, and then drove her elbow into Kasady's stomach. In a single, fluid motion, Jean took Kasady's arm and threw him over her shoulder and to the floor. Kasady tried to get up as quickly as possible and foolishly, tried to attack Spider-Man. None of that worked, and Kasady was eventually down and out and webbed up on the floor.

Spider-Man and Jean DeWolff stood over Kasady and the web head said, "Those were some nice moves."

"Hey, I'm a single woman living in New York with a dangerous job," Jean said. "Self-defense classes are a definite necessity."

A heavy knock came from the locked door. "Captain, you okay in there?" called one out one the officers.

"I'm okay, and I got Kasady," Jean turned to Spider-Man. "You better get going. It wouldn't look right; a cop side by side with a vigilante."

"You do make a good point," Spider-Man said before hopping onto the windowsill. "But you should know that it's better to stand side by side with a friend."

Kasady could be heard grunting and seething. "I'm gonna get you, Spider-Man. You hear me? I gonna get you. I swear it."

"For your sake, Kasady," Spider-Man said. "You better get a really good shrink, and a really, really long sentence."

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_This is so awesome._

That was the one comment that was going through the young mind of Ben Reilly and he snapped pictures of Spider-Man leaving the scene to cheers from the spectators. Ben then got in some snapshots of Cletus Kasady being taken into custody. Against his better judgment, Ben approached the criminal and they locked eyes.

"Hey Kasady," Ben said. "Smile for the birdie!"

Kasady did indeed smile as wide a grin as humanly possible. Then he snapped at Ben Reilly, forcing Ben back a few steps. "I'll remember you, sucker."

Kasady was taken away, and Ben was left to murmur, "There's a guy who'll get a few lumps of coal in his stocking."

"Hey kid!" the familiar voice of Jean DeWolff said.

"Capt. DeWolff," Ben said, somewhat apprehensive. "Looks like you finally caught Kasady."

"Yeah, for about the 89th time! This month," DeWolff mockingly added. "Listen, a word of advice: don't stick your camera where it's not supposed to be. You'll be better off in the long run."

Ben was still a bit apprehensive when in front of Jean. "Yeah right, good advice," Ben noticed Jean walking away and something compelled Ben to say, "Happy Holidays!"

Without turning, Jean asked, "What's so happy about it?"

Spider-Man was watching the proceedings, making absolutely certain that Kasady didn't try to make a get away. The last the web head needed was to go through another car chase. That, he didn't need. Then there was the new kid, Ben Reilly. Spider-Man was hoping that this guy wouldn't wind up like two other former Bugle employees. Whatever the case, Spider-Man decided to make for home. He and Mary Jane had big plans for their first honeymoon and he wasn't about to let the past, or some lunatic get in the way of those plans. So, Spider-Man swung off into the distance and for once, things were coming together nicely. If only he'd known of the mysterious figure that was watching his every move. If only Spider-Man knew that this figure _knew_ his every move and everything about him and his loved ones. If only Spider-Man knew that his greatest enemy was still alive and snarling like a caged animal. One that's gone without its favorite meal for too long.

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Author's note: That's should clinch our opening chapter and we're off to a slow start. Just to answer the questions, because I know their coming, Ben Reilly will not become the Scarlet Spider or Spider-Carnage. (Although I did reference the latter in Spider-Man 4.)


	2. Living Shadows

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Spider-Man. I'm running out of sarcastic quips and clever one liners.

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Chapter II  
Living Shadows

Peter Parker had to hand it to himself. Of all the spots he could choose to spend his first honeymoon with Mary Jane, Peter picked a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty. A reasonably interesting choice, except for the fact that it was the just the start of winter and the middle of December. Mary Jane did voice her opinion, reasoning that a slightly, _warmer_ place would be better. If Peter had the cash, he'd take his new wife down to Florida. Speaking of Mary Jane, she was sound asleep in the passenger side seat in of all things, a run down beater of a news van. Old flattop, AKA, j. Jonah Jameson, stuck it to Peter that time. At least Peter didn't have to use that slightly older scooter anymore. Mary Jane was heard muttering something in her slumber, too low for Peter to actually make it out. Peter thought it was kind of cute and then Mary Jane stirred herself awake.

"Hey," Peter greeted MJ. "Welcome back to real world."

Mary Jane rubbed the back of her head and stretched her arms. "How long was I asleep?"

"About 5 or 6 hours." Peter answered.

"I had this weird dream," MJ said. "I think I was a werewolf-like creature with red fur all over."

"Wow," Peter laughed. "That sounds… interesting."

"You don't believe me?" MJ suspected.

"I didn't say that."

"You dress up in red and blue tights and swing from webs," Mary Jane added. "Don't tell me you don't believe me about a simple dream."

"No listen," Peter laughed while trying to defend himself. "No, I _do_ believe you, MJ. After everything we've gone through, I'll believe anything."

"I'm sure you will," MJ said, and then she pointed straight out the windshield. "Look, there's the ferry to Liberty Island.

The van slowed to stop and Peter said in triumph. "You see? I told you Old Ben would get us here in time."

MP stared at Peter like he'd grown an extra head. "You named this beater "Old Ben?"

"Hey, I had to come up with something." Peter said in defense.

"I'm just saying, I would've given this thing a better name," MJ said. "Like maybe… CRAP!"

Peter stared at MJ in confusion. "Say what?"

"The ferry's pulling out." MJ shouted.

Peter looked out the windshield and saw the ferry slowly departing from the dock. "Not without us, it isn't."

Peter and MJ quickly exited the van, grabbed their belongings and both made a beeline for the ferry. This wasn't exactly what either of them planned, to get to the dock and just miss the ferry. Peter picked up the pace with Mary Jane holding his hand with for dear life until they reached the very end of the dock. The ferry was already halfway from the dock.

"No," MJ said, distressed. "So much for this gig."

Peter shook his head and defiantly declared, "We aren't beaten yet."

MJ looked at Peter and her green eyes widened. "No! You wouldn't! There's no way we can make that."

"We've got to at least try, Mary Jane." Peter said.

"Peter!!!"

Mary Jane's pleas fell on deaf ears by that point. Peter hoisted his wife up in his arms and took a mighty leap into the air. The air is question happened to be very cold. But that was far cry compared to how cold the water would be if the couple failed to reach the boat. Thankfully, they couple made the jump and landed on the deck of the boat. Unfortunately, they landed in front of the other passengers that had already boarded. For a moment, Peter thought his civilian cover was blown, but then the passenger began applauding. One passenger, a young girl of about 10 years, approached the Peter and Mary Jane, her jaw agape.

"That was cool," she said. "How did you do that?"

Peter stammered on finding a good excuse until Mary Jane said, "We were All-American in the long jump."

Peter again looked at MJ with the same confused look and decided to run with that little fib. "If you want to jump like that, you should eat your vitamins and say your prayers."

Peter and Mary Jane left, and the young girl simply whispered, "Cool!"

"Eat your vitamins and say your prayers?" Mary Jane wondered aloud.

Peter just shrugged and put his arm around Mary Jane. It would be a while before they reach Liberty Island. It'd be the most appropriate duration for some alone time. That was time Peter had wanted for so long. No crime fighting. No super villains. Just Peter and Mary Jane alone. Nothing would ever, ever get in the way of this moment. As Peter held Mary Jane close, as they smiled, Peter suddenly noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Something, make that someone had just barely caught Peter's attention. Just as quickly as this figure appeared, he disappeared from view. Peter couldn't get a good enough look at the figure, but something in the very pit of his stomach told him that something was very… familiar. Ultimately, Peter wrote it off as slight paranoia and decided to continue on with Mary Jane. Nothing could dare ruin this day.

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Even since she was a little girl, Ashley Kafka had dreamed of being a doctor. Well, not so much a doctor, but rather a psychiatrist. So in a way, she was living her dream as renowned psychiatrist at the Ravencroft Rehabilitation Center. There were a lot of, let's call them head cases placed in the care of Dr. Kafka. Many of them were released back into society with a clean bill of health. Others on the other hand were far more than a handful for the young doctor. Some even developed an unhealthy fixation on Dr. Kafka. She was beautiful, no doubt, and very patient with the loons that came and went from time to time.

Dr. Kafka stopped in front of a closed door, one of many in a long hallway. "Sandra? Sandra, it's Dr. Kafka, Ashley? You remember me, right?

There wasn't any sort of communication from inside the padded room. Then a seemingly disturbed female voice said, "I… I remember… Doctor Ashley."

"How are you doing today, Sandra," Ashley asked. "Are you being a good girl?"

"No… Sandra here," said the woman known as Sandra. "I don't… know this Sandra."

"But that _is_ your real name, right? Sandra Deel?" Ashley wondered.

Again there was no answer from the padded room, and Ashley leaned in just a little bit closer. By that point, Ashley had her forehead pressed against the only window peering into the room. Without warning, the woman called Sandra Deel appeared in the window directly opposite from Ashley, startling the more restrained woman. That was actually about the 8th time Sandra had scared Ashley like she did. It never got any easier from there. Physically, the two women couldn't have appeared more opposite. Ashley had a slightly darkened skin complexion, shoulder length brunette hair and she wore a doctor's jacket. Sandra on the other hand was another story. Her skin was pale except for a tattoo over her left eye that resembled a lightning bolt. He long jet black hair ran passed her shoulders and she was wearing a strait jacket. On top of that, Sandra was literally screaming, shrieking at the top of her lungs. Hence the name the other inmates gave to her: Shriek. It most certainly fit.

"NOT SANDRA! JUST SHRIEK! MOMMY HATES SHRIEK! SHRIEK HATES MOMMY." Sandra, or rather Shriek went back to the screaming that earned her that nickname.

Ashley sighed at this latest failed attempted to get through to Shriek. "Well, that could've gone a bit better."

"Sounds like you're aren't making much progress," came the familiar voice of Jean DeWolff. "But what can be done with a girl with mommy issues?"

"Nice to see you too, captain," Ashley said in a slightly sarcastic tone. Ashley looked passed Jean and noticed an upright gurney with a single figure wrapped up. "I'm guessing that's a new arrival, correct?"

"Yep," Jean said. "Be careful with this one. He's a few ornaments short of a whole Christmas tree."

The new arrival was none other than Cletus Kasady, all wrapped in a strait jacket and a muzzle over his mouth. His crazed eyes were locked directly on Ashley, who felt a shiver run down her spine. This guy made Hannibal Lecter look docile. Most insane people in Kasady's position would probably attempt to break their bonds and try to escape. Or kill someone! Or both! Kasady remained eerily calm and cool, but his gaze seemed to pierce right through Ashley. Then, Kasady broke into a sick cackling.

"What the hell is this dump? It's nowhere near first class," Kasady cackled. "There ain't any swimming pools or stereos. Just weirdoes every which way you look."

"You do know who this guy is, don't you?" Jean asked. She knew Ashley knew, yet she asked anyway.

"Cletus Kasady, a former inmate at Riker's serving 11 consecutive life sentences," Ashley said, "He was originally slated to transferred to Ravencroft for psychiatric rehabilitation when he broke out of prison."

"Did I mention that he killed seven security guards during his escape, beating one of them with his own baton?" Jean asked.

"No," Ashley said with added sarcasm. "You kind of failed to mention that."

"Hey, pretty lady," Kasady mockingly said to Ashley. "You wanna feel good tonight? Or would you rather I just _gut_ you right here? Show you what your insides look like?"

Jean and Ashley, to their credit, ignored Kasady as he was rolled into a padded room. "Good luck with this guy, doctor."

"Gee, thanks captain!" Ashley said with even more sarcasm.

Jean and Ashley started walking on of the hallway, and Kasady could be heard shouting, "Aw, where're you going, ladies? Don't I get a little goodbye kiss, or are you scared that I'm gonna bite?"

The ladies just kept going. Ashley in particular was slightly unnerved by Kasady's seemingly maniacal verbal gestures. She didn't dare show it since she reasoned it was exactly what Kasady wanted. There was yet another woman that was giving Cletus Kasady her undivided attention. Shriek was watching the new arrival and she liked what she saw in him. She really, really liked it. Kasady looked out through the window of his room and saw Shriek staring right at him. Shriek cocked her head to one side, and Kasady seemed to mimic her movement. It was seemingly love at first sight; twisted, disturbed and thoroughly psychopathic sight.

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Peter remembered once upon a time touring Liberty Island with Uncle Ben and Aunt May when he was young. He also remembered, much to his chagrin, getting seasick on the ferry trip to and from the island. Oh, how times have changed. Now, Peter was touring Liberty Island hand in hand with Mary Jane and, now being officially husband and wife, neither could be any happier. So why was Peter so quiet? This was the million dollar question that rented some space in Mary Jane's mind. Okay, granted, Peter's been quiet from time to time and it usually meant that something big had happened or was going to happen.

"You're unusually quiet today."

"Huh," Peter must've been daydreaming a little bit when MJ spoke. "Oh, sorry. I guess I was spacing out a bit."

"This coming from Spider-Man," MJ wondered. "I kind of doubt that. Now, you said you something important to tell me back on the ferry."

"I did, didn't I?" Peter wondered. There was something he wanted to tell Mary Jane. As if proposing to her wasn't enough.

"Well, we're alone at the moment," Mary Jane assured. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"This," Peter let go of Mary Jane's hand and approach the guardrail, leaning on it. "Ever since we got married, the passed few weeks have been the happiest of my life. I mean, the city is safe, and not a single super villain has ever shown up. I know it's been discussed before, but maybe this time, finally, I can stop being Spider-Man. I can finally lead a normal life, you know. Maybe even raise a family."

Mary Jane shook her head at the notion of Peter finally hanging up the costume for good. She would've been all for it in the past, but it was easier said than done. There were plenty of times. Peter even lost his powers for a time, before he leaped back into action when MJ was kidnapped by Dr. Octopus. Peter contemplated quitting when he felt he'd be unable to cure Dr. Connors of his Lizard problem. He even considered revealing his identity when New York was gravely threatened by the Hobgoblin. Just when Peter thought he was out, something somewhere would always pull him back in. Mary Jane knew exactly what had to be said here and now.

"No way, tiger! After all we've been through I doubt you'll ever stop being a hero."

"MJ, c'mon," Peter protested. "You know I can't keep doing this forever."

"Maybe one day, we can leave it all behind. Until then, I'm okay with sharing Spider-Man with the world," Mary Jane wrapped her arms around Peter's neck and gave him light kiss. "But for right now, I want Peter Parker all to myself."

Peter finally produced a smile. "I couldn't ask for anything more, Mrs. Parker."

Peter drew Mary Jane in close and they shared a deep kiss. Interestingly enough, Mary Jane wished that Peter was kissing the same way he had that night in the alley, in the pouring rain. But this would do nicely. Peter was so inwardly grateful that Mary Jane would stay with him through thick and thin. Maybe someday, when the city no longer needed Spider-Man, then Peter and MJ could finally settle down and start their own family. Peter opened one eye for a brief second and the blood seemed to drain from his face. The shadowy figure that first appeared on the ferry had reappeared and Peter managed to get a slightly better glimpse. This figure appeared to be wearing a black hooded sweater and jeans. The face was obscured from view because of the hood. Most other couples would think it was just some strapped for cash mugger. Peter thought otherwise. He was getting a very disturbing vibe from this guy, and yet also a vibe that was disturbingly familiar.

_No! Please don't let that be who I think it is…_

Peter broke off the kiss with a stunned Mary Jane and gave chase after the shadow stalker. Confused, Mary Jane chased after Peter, who was sprinting at near breakneck speed. As Peter reached the area where the stalker was standing and rounded the corner. The stalker was gone as quickly as he appeared. But who the hell was he? Was he even real to begin with? Mary Jane finally caught to Peter and saw the confusion in his face.

"Peter, are you okay," she asked. Peter didn't answer right away. He was still looking in about every direction available. "Peter?"

Peter was finally brought out of his trance. "Huh? Sorry, MJ. I could've sworn I just saw…"

"Saw what," Mary Jane demanded. When Peter again failed to answer, MJ said, "Please tell me, Peter. You're scaring me."

"I don't you," Peter finally said, shaking his head. "I guess I'm getting a little paranoid."

Mary Jane was defeated by that point. "So much for our first honeymoon, huh?"

"No," Peter announced, feeling a little more determined. "It's probably all in my head. C'mon, let's go. We've got the whole day ahead of us."

Peter threw his arm over MJ and the couple just kept walking. Maybe Peter was being simply being paranoid. Then again, maybe he and Mary Jane were being followed. The latter notion was the truer one, for the mysterious stalker was watching them. He was watching intently with envious eyes. He could've made a move at took out the couple right then and there but instead bided his time. He would get to Peter. He would get to Spider-Man. He would take his time in making him suffer. Nothing would dare stand in his way.

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Author's note: I have no idea what compelled me to introduce Shriek in a cameo appearance, outside of the fact that she's been rarely seen in any media of any kind. Can you guess the identity of our mysterious stalker?


	3. Darker Than Black

Disclaimer: I shouldn't even have to say by this point so I'll skip and get right into next chapter.

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Chapter III  
Darker Than Black

Christmas Eve was, as history had made clear, the most chaotic time of year. If that sort of chaos didn't translate into the hollowed halls of Ravencroft, nothing would. It was a strange feeling that overcame Ashley Kafka, since most of the inmates were relatively docile. Even Sandra Deel, or Shriek as she preferred, was as eerily calm as the eye of a hurricane. This year was different. Ashley was feeling a bit more disturbed by Cletus Kasady. He was giving off an eerie vibe that rattled the young doctor to her core. All through the therapy session that Ashley was conducting, Kasady just stared blankly at Ashley with his arms crossed. The Santa hat he was wearing didn't help matters. Regardless, Ashley continued with another inmate who had just finished an interesting story.

"Wonderful, Mark; that's very encouraging news," Ashley said to the inmate. Then she turned to Kasady, who was still staring at her. "Now let's welcome our newest member of the Ravencroft family, Cletus Kasady. How do you like your stay so far, Cletus?"

Kasady didn't even open his mouth. He just kept staring and it was becoming increasingly unnerving to Ashley. The other patients could almost sense the same vibe coming from their new member. Not a single one of them could really do much of anything about it. Or say much since some of them were sedated anyway. Shriek was the only one other than Ashley to react by smiling maniacally at Kasady. She seemed almost into Kasady, which in itself was disturbing. Ashley shook of the vibe and turned to another patient.

"Okay, will anyone else share their thoughts?"

"I'm going to kill you." said Cletus Kasady so suddenly.

Ashley was briefly stunned when Kasady spoke. "Excuse me?"

"When I get out of this dump," Kasady said. "I'm going to tear those pretty little lungs out and hang 'em over my chimney."

Ashley was now very disturbed and calmly said, "That's enough, Cletus."

"I'm not finished," Cletus continued on. "Then I'm gonna kill the next poor sucker that I see, and then the next one and on. You wanna know why?"

"That's enough, Cletus." Ashley said again, this time louder.

"Because I can," Cletus went on without heeding Ashley. "Because every single sucker on this damn planet is capable of senseless murder and carnage. They're just afraid to follow through with it, but not me. I got the guts to go out there and live free, so long as someone dies."

Shriek added her on commentary. "Yes, yes, kill them all. Kill the zombies!"

Ashley had had enough of Kasady's psycho rant. "Orderlies, take Cletus back to his cell, please."

Two burly men picked Kasady up from his seat but he wasn't finished. "First, I'm gonna have some fun with pretty little Doctor Ash and then I'm gonna kill the other zombies in this cesspool of an insane asylum. Or maybe the other way around! You can pick!"

Cletus Kasady kept on ranting nonstop as the orderlies dragged him out of the therapy session, which was ended soon after. Shriek broke into her own hysterical fit only to be sedated. Deciding to end the session, Ashley returned to her office and threw herself into her seat. She went into deep thought over what had just transpired, even rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration. Only a few day of having Kasady in Ravencroft, and already he was giving Ashley problems. It wasn't quite the Christmas cheer that Ashley had hoped for.

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What exactly was Peter doing at the Daily Bugle on Christmas Eve of all times? He should've been at home helping to finish the Christmas tree with Mary Jane. It had to be at a last minute thing, didn't it? Thankfully, Aunt May stopped by to help with the decorating. So why was Peter at the Bugle? Duh! His Christmas bonus! Somehow, Peter knew it didn't quite sit well with Jameson to be handing out bonuses to his employees. He didn't need a spider-sense to tell him that. Peter would probably need a hearing aid upon hearing Jameson bellow Ted Hoffman out of his office about some random irregularity. It briefly occured to Peter how utterly ridiculous Jameson looked in the Santa Claus outfit he was wearing, minus the hat. Santa Jonah, maybe?

"You're ideas are even more useless than Rudolf, and he had a mutated red nose." Jameson bellowed.

For some reason, Hoffman foolishly joked, "I thought it was a birth defect."

"Get outta here," Jameson shouted, and Hoffman was gone in no time. Then Jameson spotted Peter. "Parker, what're you doing here?"

Peter stammered for a split second before answering. "I came by to pick my Christmas bonus."

Jameson shook his head like he had absolutely no clue what Peter was talking about. He knew but he was playing dumb. "What're you talking about? Photographers don't get bonuses."

Leave it to Betty to point out, "You had one set up for Peter two days ago."

"Thank you, Miss Brant!" Jameson said with his teeth clenched, and he stomped back into his office.

_What got stuck up his chimney? _Peter thought as he leaned in toward Betty and whispered to her, "Thanks Betty! I didn't think he'd actually give me my bonus."

"Least I can do, especially after…" Betty stalled out, and Peter knew the reason.

"I know you're probably still stinging after what happened to Ned…" Peter started to say.

Betty waved off the conversation and said, "Hey, I'm over it. I took Ned's passing pretty hard and the past month's been hell. But I doubt Ned would want me to be depressed, especially during Christmas."

"I don't blame you." Peter said.

The conversation was stalled by a commotion elsewhere in the office. A young kid, younger than Peter, was trying to get through some other people. He wasn't doing a very good job. Peter did note the camera hanging from his neck. Actually, this kid reminded Peter a lot of himself. Was there somebody making clones of Peter Parker now? Peter would've written that notion off as some really bad comic book plot. In any event, the kid stumbled and came to rest right in front of Peter.

"Sorry," the kid said. "The boss's expecting me. Hey, you're Peter Parker, right?"

Peter was just slightly taken aback by the seemingly uncoordinated newcomer. "Um, yeah, that's me."

"Aw man, it's a huge honor to meet the man behind the Spider-Man pics," the kid said. "You're like, my idol. I would've given anything to be just as good as you."

Jameson suddenly burst out of his office shouting, "Reilly, I don't pay you to make idle conversation. Get in my office immediately," Jameson turned to Peter and handed him white envelope. "Here's your blasted Christmas bonus, Parker. Now please, get out of my sight."

For some God forsaken reason, Peter blurted out, "Merry Christmas, boss!"

Jameson gave his best Ebenezer Scrooge impression and shouted, "Bah Humbug!"

Betty couldn't help but chuckle at Peter's sense of humor before Peter asked, "So who's the new guy?"

"That's Ben Reilly," Betty answered. "He's our newest photographer; and he's a little green."

"Maybe greener than grass by the look of it," Peter said. "I guess I better get going and cash this check."

"You have a Merry Christmas, Peter," Betty said with a slight smile. "Say hi to Mary Jane for me."

"You too, Betty!"

Peter started out on his way out of the Bugle offices, stuffing the envelope into his jacket pocket. He gave some consideration to sneaking up to the roof of the Bugle and swinging back home. No! Peter didn't see much reason to do that. He decided becoming Spider-Man wasn't needed just to get home. Peter smiled as he waltzed to the elevator and absentmindedly looked out toward the window. His smile evaporated upon seeing a shadowy figure quickly disappear past the window. Without thinking, Peter rushed to the window to hopefully catch a glimpse of the figure. Nothing! Peter was getting absolutely frustrated, even coming close to ripping his hair from his scalp. It couldn't be him. It couldn't be that thing. It just could not be…

"Peter, everything alright?" Robbie suddenly asked and startled Peter.

"Robbie!"

"Are you feeling okay, Peter," Robbie asked again. "You look like you've seen the Ghost of Christmas Future."

More along the line of the Ghost of Christmas Past as Peter rubbed his forehead and said, "Yeah… I'm okay, Robbie. I guess I'm a little on edge."

"Go home, Peter," Robbie said, putting an arm over Peter's shoulder. "You go home, get some rest and take care of your wife."

Peter nodded and walked off, still a slight bit flustered as he entered the elevator. It would only take a minute or so to reach the bottom floor, but that wasn't what Peter thought about. The past couple of days had seemingly been getting weirder with each passing moment. What the blazes was he seeing? The elevator reached the bottom floor and Peter stormed into the street. It had started snowing but that was thing on Peter's mind. He grabbed his cellular phone and dialed Mary Jane's number. A few rings later, MJ answered.

"Hello?"

"MJ, where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes! I'm okay. I'm home fixing the tree with Aunt May," MJ said. She could sense something was amiss. "Is everything okay out there, Peter?"

Peter stammered on the question. "I'm not really sure."

"Does this have anything with what happened at Liberty Island?" MJ asked.

"Probably," Peter answered. "Listen, I'll try to get home as soon as possible."

MJ could be heard sighing, "Okay, but please be careful and come home safe."

"Yeah, bye!"

Peter hung up the phone and started walking briskly down the sidewalk. Maybe it would've been a good idea to change into his costume and get airborne. Peter looked behind periodically to see if anyone was following him. Nothing! Maybe Peter was seeing things. Who really knew? Peter was briefly distracted by a man is a Santa Claus suit ringing a bell for charity. Peter dropped some change into a plastic black pot and kept moving. He then glanced behind and still, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. If there was, his spider-sense would've alerted him. But what if it didn't? Peter didn't stop to think about that. He kept walking and looking back every chance he'd get. Every time, there wasn't any indication of a major problem. Peter turned back to face front and he froze. The stalker was standing ahead of Peter and keeping a reasonable distance. His face was still obscured by the hood he was wearing. Peter didn't make any sudden moves and just kept walking very slowly. The stalker began walking as well, matching Peter's pace. Peter knew there was an alleyway coming up. He could easily slip in, crawl up the wall and lose this guy. No, for discretion seemed to be the wiser route. Peter reached the entrance to the alley and rounded the corner, and then broke into a sprint toward the other end. Once he reached the other end, Peter looked back toward the other end. There wasn't any sign of the stalker.

_Lost him._ Peter thought.

Something didn't seem right about the goings on by that point. A small part of Peter came to believe that the stalker gave up. Breathing a sigh of relief, Peter prepared to head home. Then without warning, Peter was suddenly and violently pulled into the air by an unseen force. The upward movement was so rapid that Peter didn't know where anything was, so he didn't know what hit him as he was slammed into a fire escape. Peter uncontrollably reached the top of the building and crashed onto the snow covered rooftop, sliding across without direction. The whole ordeal reminded Peter of the same thing he did to Mac Gargan before the latter became Scorpion. Only now the roll was reversed and not enjoyable. Peter struggled to pick himself up off the snow and was suddenly kicked right across the roof. He rolled toward the edge of the roof and then was pulled in the opposite direction. Peter found himself staring at a slobbering hissing jaw and bug like alien eyes. There was no mistaking who, or rather what was staring back at Peter.

"Hey Parker; remember us," the monster threw Peter right into the snowy ground. "We most definitely remember you."

The monster kicked Peter across the roof, after which Peter barely got back. "Eddie; Eddie Brock? It can't be. I watched you get incinerated along with the symbiote."

The alien like face peeled back to reveal the face of the long thought deceased Edward Brock Jr. "We told you, Pete. You never wound what you can't kill."

"We?!" Peter wondered in absolute confusion. What reason did Eddie have to refer to himself in the plural?

"Me and the symbiote, the very same symbiote that you rejected. The same that I've come to embrace," The symbiote then re-enveloped Brock's face. "Oh yeah, you really should call us Venom from here on out."

Peter didn't have the time to change into his costume and quickly shot out a web line to get away. Venom wouldn't dare let Peter get away and snagged him with his own line. Peter felt himself get pulled in the opposite and was met with a closed fist in his face. Peter hit the ground back first and barely avoided a swift stomp from Venom. It was at that point that Peter noticed that Venom looked much bigger than last time. More muscle bound was the villain this time around, although he retained the distorted web pattern and the grayish white spider emblem. It wasn't the time to admire this new and improved Venom, who with a deep growl charged at Peter. Peter found a much needed opening and blinded the oncoming Venom with webbing. Peter charged and delivered a straight double kick to Venom' chest. The villain went rolling across the roof but righted himself and shot dual lines. The lines caught Peter's feet and he was tripped off and hit the ground again. Venom wasn't even close to finished and swung Peter around before throwing him into a wall. Peter was barely coherent as he was slowly going limp, but Venom would let him fall. The symbiote receded so Peter was face to face with Eddie Brock.

"We're just getting started, Parker," Eddie sneered. "You haven't even begun to hurt yet, and we want to very slowly rip you apart piece by piece."

"Brock, it isn't… too late," Peter struggled to say. "You can still… get rid of the symbiote…" Peter felt Eddie place a hideous black hand over his mouth.

The symbiote again enveloped Eddie's face. "Shut up! We are not Brock. We are Venom. We have always been Venom. You were to be ours but you betrayed and spurned us. Now, we're going to make you suffer. You, and everyone you love the most. You'll be seeing plenty of us."

Venom grasped Peter by the throat and dragged across the room, leaving a trail in the snow. Peter tried to get free but Venom held his fast and tight. It felt as if Peter was losing breath as Venom held over the edge. Peter glanced down to see the alley below. He could save himself in the forthcoming fall, provided he was still conscious. Venom drew Peter closer they face to face.

"Until then, we'll keep in touch," Venom snarled before letting Peter fall. "Oh, and Merry Christmas!"

Peter was barely conscious when he realized where he was. He shot a line out as quickly as humanly possible. Too late! Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Peter crash landed into a garbage dumpster. The lid closed on Peter before he could get out. When he managed to climb out, Peter looked up and saw zero sign of Venom. He was gone, but Peter knew he was out there. Things could only get much worse from that point. It had to be during Christmas of all times. Venom had indeed returned. Heaven help Peter and his loved ones.

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Author's note: Venom is back with a vengeance. Hopefully, I can do him justice, unlike Sam Raimi. Let me know what you think!


	4. A Prelude To Torture

Disclaimer: Yes, Venom is back. Yes, he's bigger in this fic than in the film. Yes, he refers to himself in the plural. Yes, he still has the distorted web pattern. (I'm one of the few who thought that was cool) No, I don't own the rights to Spider-Man. Any questions?

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Chapter IV  
A Prelude to Torture

"Peter! Peter, wake up!"

Peter slowly opened his eyes and glimpsed the worry that resided in Mary Jane's eyes. "Mary Jane?"

"Thank God you're okay," MJ said as she moved aside, allowing Peter to sit up. "I thought you'd never come to."

Peter shook off the confusion and realized he was in his apartment. "What happened? How did I get back home?"

"You came in through the window last night and collapsed," MJ said. "I had to help you onto the sofa."

Peter glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already noon. How long was he out cold? Peter held his face in his hands. He could barely remember anything that had happened the previous night. It was all bits and pieces. There was the Bugle, then the stalker… The stalker! It wasn't a dream, or a nightmare. Peter was able to recall what did happen; he'd been thoroughly trounced by a monster he'd long believed to be dead and gone. Not anymore!

"He's back!"

"What," MJ asked in confusion. "Peter, what're you talking about?"

"Eddie Brock," Peter snapped. "He's alive, and so is the symbiote. He's calling himself Venom now, but it's like he's two different people," Peter slowly stood up, which was in itself a struggle. "Or monsters!"

Mary Jane remembered Eddie Brock all too well. How could she hope to forget how that maniac left her suspended eighty stories in a cab? It was Brock who killed Harry and could've very nearly done her in if it hadn't been for Peter. Who could forget the goings on before that night, when the symbiote was influencing Peter for the worse? Now, hearing that that lunatic was still alive sent MJ into a whirlwind of emotions. Mostly dread.

"Peter, what're we going to do?"

Peter paced around the room like a caged animal, so deep in thought that he barely even heard MJ. "I don't know. It's all happening too fast. Where's Aunt May?"

"She'd gone home before you came in last night." MJ said matter-of-factly.

Peter was getting greatly agitated by that point. "I have to make absolutely certain that she's okay."

"What about Brock?"

Peter was already opening the door out of the apartment when MJ asked that question. "Hopefully I won't have to deal him just yet. In the meantime, you should probably go stay with a friend. It isn't safe here."

"But Peter…"

"Please, Mary Jane," Peter snapped. "Just go find somewhere safe. You'll be in danger if Venom finds you."

Peter almost immediately regretted snapping at his wife like he did. Mary Jane couldn't blame her husband for being so agitated. The thought of Venom coming after her again sent more that chills down her spine. She was far more concerned for Peter's well being. Yes, Peter was more than capable of fending for himself. He'd done it so many times against a rogue's gallery of villains. But Venom was in a league of his own since he and Spider-Man were basically carbon copies of each other. Like twin brothers. That was a frightening form of symmetry. Peter meanwhile had regained some of his composer.

"I didn't mean to snap at you," Peter said. "I just can't risk your safely any way."

"I know, Peter," MJ said. "For better or worse, right?"

Peter approached MJ and placed his hand on her shoulders. "Just do this for me, okay? I need to be sure that Aunt May is safe."

"Okay! I'll go stay with Liz," MJ said. "Just be careful, Peter."

Peter nodded without saying a word and soon after was out the door. Mary Jane sat back down on the sofa on which Peter had awoken earlier. Again, she couldn't blame him. Had it been her aunt, MJ would've been deathly worried as well. She prayed that Aunt May was alright.

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It was Christmas Day. It was supposed to one of those extra special happy times, in which Peter should've been with family and friends. Instead he was rushing down the hall toward Aunt May's apartment room. He needed to be sure that she was okay, that Venom hadn't gotten to her yet. By the time he did reach the apartment, the first thing Peter wanted to do was burst into the room ready for a possible fight. No. The last thing he needed was to have Aunt May startled by his barging in. She'd been through enough already after the incident with the Hobgoblin. So why was Peter so hesitant to simply knock on the door? Venom was the obvious reason. Peter knew that Venom was invisible to his spider-sense. So for all he knew, Venom could've been in there already, waiting to ambush his sworn rival. Peter looked to knock anyway but he could swear that he heard the piano playing inside. Aunt May might've been playing when he knocked on the door. The music stopped and the door opened to reveal Aunt May.

"Peter!!!"

"Hi, Aunt May," Peter greeted his aunt forcing a smile to unsure May wasn't worried. "Merry Christmas."

"To you as well, dear," Aunt May embraced Peter, who was somewhat relieved that May was safe. "What brings you here? I thought you'd be celebrating Christmas with Mary Jane."

"I just had to see how you were doing and give my best wishes," Peter said in only half-truth. Then he heard a familiar tune from the piano inside. "Do you already have company?"

"Yes I do actually," Aunt May said. "A very nice young man arrived here before you did. He tells me he's a childhood friend of yours."

Peter sensed that something was very wrong with this situation. The tune he was hearing from the piano was _Clair de Lune. _ Even on his very best of days, Peter often had trouble playing that particular tune. But now he was hearing it being played perfectly, beautifully and very hauntingly. Aunt May allowed Peter to enter the apartment and Peter spotted a man sitting at the piano. Then the man turned around and all the blood drained from Peter's face. He found himself staring directly at Eddie Brock.

"Hey Pete," Eddie calmly greeted to Peter. "Long time no see. How you been?"

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The next couple of hours were quite possibly the most tense and awkward in Peter's life. He was seated in forward leaning position with his hands folded together. Seated across from him was Eddie Brock. He seemed far more relaxed and was seated in a more arrogant matter. Peter was so tempted. He wanted to tackle Eddie to the floor, maybe throw him out the window and take the fight to the rooftops. Eddie more than likely wanted the same thing. Aunt May came around with two cups of tea, one for Peter and the other for Eddie. She went back to the kitchen so she could make one for herself. Peter didn't lay a finger on his cup, while Eddie calmly took his and took a sip. Peter could almost swear that he saw the alien ooze creeping underneath Eddie's clothes. Hell, for all Peter knew, Eddie's clothing _was _the symbiote. It seemed the clothes really did make the man.

"So Edward, how long have you known Peter?" Aunt May, unintentionally breaking the silence.

"Oh, Peter and I, we've been friends since we were kids," Eddie said. That was about as fabricated as it could be. "I like to think we were more like _brothers_. Ironically, we wound up working at Bugle. Funny how things work out, huh Pete?"

"Yeah!" was all Peter could say. He was really thinking about getting Eddie away from Aunt May.

"Peter, I'm surprised you've never formally introduced us." Aunt May mentions, obviously not knowing anything about the _real_ Edward Brock Jr.

Peter had to think of something quickly. "Well, so much has happened over the years that I guess it slipped my mind."

"Oh yeah, I guess nobody's perfect." Eddie said, sneering at Peter.

Peter needed right now to get Eddie away from Aunt May. "I'm sorry to do this, Aunt May, but Eddie and I need to get going."

"Really, Pete," Eddie mockingly asked. "I was just starting to get comfortable."

"Seriously, Eddie," Peter mockingly said back. "I think we have catching up to do."

"Fair enough," Eddie said as he and Peter both stood up and head for the door. "Aunt May, it's been a pleasure to finally meet you. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas."

"I most certainly will, Edward." Aunt May said with a smile.

Peter had to push Eddie out the door, saying to Aunt May, "Bye Aunt May. Merry Christmas."

"Be seeing you, ma'am." Eddie said as he went out the door.

Aunt May smiled and mused to herself, "Such a nice young man. So polite!"

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With Aunt May safely out danger, at least for now, Peter was able to turn his attention to Eddie. Eddie walked with an enormous sense of arrogance. It sickened Peter to no end. He knew exactly why Eddie was doing this. Why make it personal? Why did all the villains Peter had ever battled have to make it personal? Eddie Brock was taking it to a new level. Or a new low.

As they rounded the corner into the next hall, Eddie callously said, "Your Aunty is so sweet to her guests. I hope I get to see her again for New Year's."

Peter quickly and quietly pushed Eddie against the wall. "She's not ever going to see you again, Brock."

Eddie simply smiled, and snarled, "What makes you think you can stop us, _bro_?"

"I can stop you, Brock," Peter snapped. "I _will_ still you."

Without warning, Eddie effortlessly threw Peter off of him and against a wall. Peter went down hard and Eddie stood over him and snarled, "You really shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Spider-Chump."

Eddie left Peter down on the floor and raced down the hall at breakneck speed. Peter picked himself up and quickly gave chase. Eddie was moving down the halls faster than Peter anticipated. Peter more often than not lost sight of Eddie every time he rounded a corner. Eventually, Peter found that Eddie had burst through a door into a stairwell and continued after Eddie. Peter followed as quickly as possible. Eddie was about three stories ahead of Peter. He stopped periodically to taunt Peter before finally reaching the top. Peter continued up the stairwell until he reached the top, where he found that Eddie had busted through the door and onto the roof. He quickly burst through the door himself, but Peter saw no sign of Eddie. Then Peter realized that Eddie had ample time to change form. He ended up hating being right when he was suddenly forced into the snow covered ground face first. Venom stood over Peter and held his head down, pressing it hard into the ground.

"We're just getting started, Parker," Venom snarled in his frightening dual voice. "We have huge plans for you on this wonderful Christmas day. We bet you're wondering what would happen if a certain secret was revealed to the world at large."

"You wouldn't dare, Brock." Peter defiantly said.

"Oh, we most certainly would," Venom said, and the symbiote receded so Eddie's face was visible. "In fact, we're thinking about asking our old boss about running that headline. That'd be front page news all over."

Peter struggle to get from of Venom's grasp. "They'll find out about you too, Eddie."

"You know what, Parker," Eddie said. "That's a risk worth taking to ruin your life just like you ruined ours," The symbiote reformed around Eddie's face. "You should've never rejected us."

Venom released Peter from his grip and sprinted off the roof. Peter got up quickly and sprinted toward where Venom had dove off. Venom had disappeared again, and Peter began scanning his surroundings. He knew Venom could very easily come from anywhere since he wouldn't trigger his spider-sense. Peter stopped to think about Venom's threat. Granted, Peter was put in the same position when the Hobgoblin threatened the city unless Spider-Man unmasked. That was an ultimatum. Venom wanted to ruin Peter's life as a whole and just for the hell of it. Why couldn't Eddie see that the symbiote was negatively influencing him like it did Peter? Did Eddie hate Peter that much? Regardless, Peter knew he couldn't hope to find Venom now. He also had no idea that, watching from atop a distant rooftop, Venom was snarling and hissing with malice. He was so eagerly anticipating his further tormenting of Peter Parker _and _Spider-Man. Absolute vengeance would belong to Venom alone, and to no one else.

* * *

Author's note: You didn't think I'd have Spider-Man and Venom fight each other this soon, did you? You'll have to read and review if you want more. Peace out, kiddies!


	5. Bipolar Disorder

Disclaimer: I guess it's so far, so good! You already know that I don't the rights to Spider-Man, so let's get right to it.

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Chapter V  
Bipolar Disorder

Swinging high above the city streets of downtown SoHo, Spider-Man was very much on edge. There hadn't been any sign of Venom since earlier in the day, when Eddie had "visited" Aunt May. It was all Peter could do at the time to keep from throwing Eddie out the door. Or the window! Then Eddie, as Venom, threatened to reveal Spider-Man's identity to the world at large. But he never made his move. Spider-Man landed on a ledge and went into deep thought. Why didn't Venom just go to the Bugle and rat out the web slinger's secret? There was no way was Venom just bluffing. Maybe he was just waiting for the right opportunity. Something caught the web slinger's attention and he sharply turning his gaze toward the general direction. Nothing! Venom was good at making Spider-Man see things that weren't there. It was almost an art form of sorts.

"C'mon Venom," Spider-Man whispered to himself. "Where are you?"

Spider-Man knew all too well that Venom was toying with him. Again, Spider-Man seemed to see some sort of movement and he gazed toward the unknown. Again, that was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. It was pretty much official; Venom had gotten in Spider-Man's head. Shooting a web line, Spider-Man went back on his patrol of the skyline. It was starting to snow again, though it wasn't as heavy as before. The weather was the last thing on Spider-Man's mind. He gazed behind his back briefly to make sure Venom hadn't managed to get behind him. At one point, Spider-Man even swung in reverse to be sure of no sort of forthcoming ambush. This was risky since he knew Venom was spider-sense proof. Just as he thought he was in the clear, Spider-Man felt himself suddenly jolt to a stop in midair.

"What the blazes?" Spider-Man said in shock.

He realized that he was stuck in a giant black web that read of all things, "GUESS WHO?"

Spider-Man pulled himself free from the giant web and swung up toward the nearest rooftop. "Alright Venom, I'm right here! Show yourself!"

Without warning, Spider-Man was brutally kicked across the roof by Venom. "Guess who?" the villain mocking asked.

Spider-Man quickly picked himself up and shouted, "Let's finish this, Venom."

"Finish it," Venom wondered. "We're having way too much fun."

"Well, Fun Time's over!"

Spider-Man immediately threw the first punch, connecting hard with Venom's slobbering jaw. More punches follows, each one harder than the last and Venom was taking each one. Venom eventually fought back and threw a wild swing that Spider-Man dodged with little effort. Spider-Man just kept throwing bombs before dodging another swing from Venom. He didn't see Venom throw a backhand and the villain connected hard to Spider-Man's chin. Spider-Man was thrown back and rolled in reverse before regaining his footing. It was slightly more difficult to accomplish because of the slippery ground thanks to the most recent snowstorm. Venom shot two black lines at either side of Spider-Man and launched himself at the hero. Spider-Man just barely hopped over Venom and let him slam into the ground. The hero mimicked Venom's earlier maneuver, only it didn't work a second time. Venom rushed right at Spider-Man and tackled him to the snowy ground. The villain reared back at drove his burly fist straight down, expecting to cave in Spider-Man's face. Spider-Man quickly and subtly dodged the blow and back flipped away, striking Venom directly in the jaw. Spider-Man back flipped away and came to a fighting stance.

"Is that all you got?" Venom growled.

Spider-Man didn't provide Venom the benefit of an answer and full on charged at Venom. Venom did the same. Time seemed to slow down as the two rivals simultaneously leaped into the air and at each other. Venom won the aerial collision and hit the ground, with Spider-Man's head trapped in Venom's muscular arms. Venom squeezed tightly and Spider-Man found it extremely difficult to catch his breath. The symbiote face receded so it was Eddie Brock who had Spider-Man in his clutches.

"We bet you wish you still had the symbiote," Eddie snarled as he applied pressure. "That's what happens when you discard your hand-me-downs," The symbiote enveloped around Eddie's face. "You never know when they might come back to find you."

Venom threw Spider-Man hard across the roof, where the web slinger impacted the wall. Spider-Man tried to get up but he was rapidly enveloped by a stream of black webbing and embedded to the wall. Venom snarled as he released a near endless stream of black webbing. By a few more moments, Spider-Man was totally immobile and Venom stood over him mockingly. He grasped Spider-Man by his cheeks and sneered at him.

"You think we're going finish you off now," Venom asked maliciously. "Wrong! We still have big Christmas plans, and once we're finished, maybe we'll pay a visit to that pretty little red head."

Spider-Man was ever defiant and shouted, "You stay away from her, Venom. You hear me?"

"You're really not in a position to tell us what to do," Venom mockingly tapped Spider-Man in the cheek and than said, "Anyway, we've got places to go and people to torment. Bah bye, Parker!"

Venom rushed off and disappeared over the edge, leaving Spider-Man to shout out, "Brock, come back! Come back!"

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Dr. Kafka didn't take to her latest assignment with much enthusiasm; a patient interview with Cletus Kasady. Ashley could swear she'd had a better, easier time interviewing Shriek. At least Shriek seemed to have some semblance of empathy, where as Kasady had none. Still, Ashley had a job to do and she would see it done as Cletus Kasady was brought into her office. Kasady had on a strait jacket and was escorted by a security guard. The guard forced Kasady into the waiting chair, and Ashley caught a glimpse of the psycho's demented grin. It unnerved Ashley to see that grin, being very reminiscent of a demented, psychopathic clown.

"I'll take it from here, guard," Ashley said. "You may leave."

"With respect, doctor, I should stay to ensure your safety." The guard suggested.

"I understand but I have this under control," Ashley assured the orderly. "I'll call if I need you."

Defeated, the guard started out for the door. "I'll be outside if you need assistance."

"Beat it, pig," Cletus mocked. "This is between me and the chew toy."

The security guard was visibly disturbed by Kasady's snide remark. In fact, he wanted to take his nightstick and smash it over Kasady's head. He'd have been doing the world at large a favor. Ashley shot a glance at the guard and he slowly walked out the door, keeping the back of Kasady unruly red hair in view the whole way. Ashley sighed in some form of relief, but now the hard part was about to begin. She reached to one side and started a tape recorder for the interview.

"Okay, patient interview #175, December the 25th; patient's name is Cletus Kasady."

"Hi there, hot legs!" Kasady said in a severely derogatory tone.

Ignoring the disrespectful man, Ashley said, "Let get to the business at hand; tell me, Cletus: Why do you feel the need to kill?"

Cletus chuckled at the apparent absurdity of the question and asked his own question. "What the hell kind of question is that?"

"I'd think it to be a reasonably good question." Ashley answered undeterred.

"You would," Cletus spat. "I say it's a pointless, stupid question from an all around stupid broad."

"Are you going to answer the question, Cletus?" Ashley asked, clearing losing her patience.

"Why do I feel the need to kill," Kasady mimicked the previous question. "Why does anyone feel the need to say, eat? Or sleep, or piss or even get laid? You really wanna know why, hot legs?"

"I think I'm entitled to that, yes." Ashley said.

"Because life is a meaningless little white lie," Cletus finally said. "It's all a big friggin' joke. The so-called universe has no center and its creator is a drooling idiot. The world is populated by zombies."

"People are not zombies, Cletus." Ashley saw fit to clarify. Obviously, Cletus wasn't expected to listen.

"Oh, yes they are," Cletus spat. "They're all zombies; every last sack of walking meat that walks the earth as we speak is a friggin' zombie with absolutely no idea of the crap going on around them. All I'm doing is saving these poor zombies from themselves," Cletus slowly got up from his seat and stared at Ashley. "If you like, I can do the same to you. What do you say to that, hot legs?"

Ashley by that point was scared to death, but she didn't dare show it. She shut off the tape recorder and called out, "Guard, we're finished here."

The guard entered the office and quickly asked, "Everything alright here, doctor?"

"Fine, just take Kasady back to his cell." Ashley said as she slouched be into her chair.

The guard nodded and grabbed Cletus by his strait jacket. Before going anywhere, Cletus viciously snapped at Ashley and startled her. Then Cletus broke into a maniacal cackling that rattled Ashley further. Ashley remained stoic and silent. Perhaps it was simply a display of resolve for as soon as Cletus was gone, Ashley seemed to break down. Cletus Kasady had, without question, gotten to her in the worst way.

--------------------------------------------

Venom's trail had gone cold. That was as literal to Peter as it was painfully obvious. "C'mon MJ, please pick up the phone." Peter seemed extremely frantic to hear from MJ. He needed to be sure that Venom hadn't reached her.

Someone did answer the other line. "Peter, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Peter answered, inwardly grateful that this call wasn't a repeat of the one from the Green Goblin. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Liz's apartment." MJ said.

In the background, Liz Allen could be heard shouting, "Hi Petey, Merry Christmas."

Peter was able to laugh it off, recalling one time that Liz had a thing for him. Sally Avril, not so much. "Are you okay, MJ? Eddie didn't get to you, did he?"

"No," MJ said with added reassurance. "I doubt he knows where I am. Where are you?"

"I'm just leaving the Bugle," Peter answered. "Nobody here has seen or heard anything from Eddie. I'm going to take one last patrol around the city and then I'll come find you."

"Okay, just be careful, Peter," MJ said. "I love you."

"You too, honey."

Peter hung up the cell phone and pocketed it and started down the street. He almost immediately got to thinking about the many ways Venom could torture him. Peter suddenly stopped dead in his track when he saw what he thought was Venom strolling toward him. It turned out to be a middle-age man who walked past Peter without even glancing. Peter kept walking, trying to keep a grip on reality. He glanced up at a rooftop billboard and saw Venom's face snarling right at him. Peter shook his head in denial and covered his face in his hands. He leaned against a wall trying to catch his breath, and then got a second look at the billboard. Venom's face was gone, replaced by an image of J. Jonah Jameson wearing a Santa hat. Peter was losing it big time, that much he knew. He needed to get out of the public and slowly walked into the nearest alleyway. As soon as he was clear, Peter began changing into his costume. He looked in every direction to make certain there wasn't anyone around. Peter had most of the costume on except for his mask and he kept looking around.

"Those are some real spiffy pajamas."

Peter looked toward the source of the voice. "Eddie!"

Eddie Brock, in civilian clothes, was clinging to the wall above Peter. "You know, Pete; when we mentioned spilling your dirty little secret to the old man," The symbiote enveloped Eddie's entire body until all that remained was Venom. "We weren't bluffing."

Peter didn't waste a shred of time. He threw on his mask and went after Venom, who quickly swung away towards the Daily Bugle. Spider-Man knew he'd be finished if Venom revealed his identity. He knew full well that he had to stop Venom.

-----------------------------------------------------

Chaos was the order of the Christmas day at the Daily Bugle, and not a single person was aware of the forthcoming danger. J. Jonah Jameson was in one of his usual moods, possibly due to his wife providing eggnog for lunch. The young and enthusiastic Ben Reilly was the boss's offices pitching what Jonah dismissed as the ultimate in lame ideas.

"No one's going to want to read that bull crap, Reilly." Jonah bellowed.

"But Mr. Jameson, that is the ultimate in front page news," Ben continued to pitch his idea. "Who wouldn't want to know Spider-Man's secret identity?"

Robbie was listening in to the whole conversion. "Spider-Man's secret identity could sell a hell of a lot papers, Jonah."

"Oh please, Robbie," Jonah snapped. "Nobody cares about what someone looks like under a mask. He might as well be Joe Shmuck for all I care."

As usual, Hoffman chimed in on the conversation. "Who, Spider-Man?"

Jonah looked at Hoffman like he wanted to tear his head off and said, "No, Baby New Year. Of course Spider-Man. We're not running that story and that is final."

Without warning, Venom came crashing into Jonah's office and out to the desk, sending most of the occupants scurrying out of the office. "Hi there, boss!"

Jonah couldn't seem to figure out why, but he somehow managed to deduce who the creature was skulking in front of him. "Brock!?"

Venom grabbed Jonah by his suit collar and drew him in. "Good guess, old man. We go by Venom now, and we have quite a scoop for you, if you're interested."

Spider-Man suddenly swung into the office and kicked Venom off the desk right through the wall. Spider-Man then asked, "Is everyone okay?"

Jonah was the first to answer in his own way. "You again? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"Merry Christmas to you too, buzz head," Spider-Man mocked and hopped through the gaping hole left by Venom. "And a Happy New Year."

Jonah was left fuming. "I hate that guy."

---------------------------------------------------

Spider-Man swung up to the roof of the Bugle but saw no sign of Venom, if he was even up there in the first place. Without his spider-sense, the web slinger knew he'd have a tough time dealing with his alien rival. Perhaps it was sheer blind luck that Spider-Man turned sharply to see Venom swing toward with his feet extended. Spider-Man ducked and let Venom pass by him. Venom landed and slid across the snow covered roof before shooting symbiote lines at Spider-Man. Spider-Man somersaulted over the lines and shot out a web line. The web line wrapped around Venom's arm and the villain took the line with his free hand. Venom pulled hard on the line and took Spider-Man with it, but Spider-Man was ready for the villain. Spider-Man kicked Venom directly in the jaw first, and then kicked him in the chest and into an air vent. The air was smashed by the impact, but Venom was far from finished. He charged at Spider-Man and threw wide swings which the hero dodged. Spider-Man fell to the ground and nipped back up, striking Venom again in the jaw. Venom roared and threw both fists right into the ground, missing Spider-Man by inches. Spider-Man back flipped away but Venom struck him with a mighty double kick to the chest. Spider-Man nearly flew off the roof but saved himself by twirling around a metal pole and back on the roof.

"Is that all _you_ got, Venom?" Spider-Man asked, mocking Venom's previous asking of the question.

Venom tensed up. "We're just getting warmed up, Spider-Man."

"In the middle of winter," Spider-Man quipped for what felt like the longest time. "Good luck with that, slobber jaw."

"You're the one who's going to need luck after we demonstrate our new trick."

What the hell was Venom talking about? Spider-Man received his answer when Venom produced black tendrils from his body. Spider-Man frantically dodged the tendrils as they came from seemingly every direction. It very scarcely reminded the hero of his battles with Dr. Octopus. Meanwhile, a horde of spectators gathered at the bottom of the Daily Bugle, including Jonah and Robbie. News Cameras were rolling to catch as much action as possible. Spider-Man was finding it increasingly difficult to dodge Venom's attacks. He had to find an opening and make his move. Spider-Man took a chance and fired a web line, but one of the tendrils hit it, and thus impacted and snagged Spider-Man's firing hand.

"Oh, that's not good."

More tendrils rapidly shot out and trapped Spider-Man in their grasp. Venom roared his approval and shot out more tendrils. Spider-Man was fighting for his life to get rid of the tendrils, inwardly hoping the symbiote wasn't trying to bond with him again. Venom pulled hard and tripped up Spider-Man before dragging him across the snow to him. Venom hopped onto the ledge with Spider-Man wrapped up tight and dangled the hero over the edge.

"Look at all of your adoring fans," Venom mocked. "Let's give them a very special Christmas present, shall we?"

Venom reached over and yanked Spider-Man's mask clean off. "NO!" Peter tried to reach for his mask but Venom let it fall toward the ground below. Peter realized right then he was screwed.

"So tell us, Mr. Parker," Venom growled with delight. "Are you ready for your close up?"

* * *

Author: Don't you just _love_ a good cliffhanger? Please be absolutely sure to leave a review, boys and girls a stayed tuned for the next chapter.


	6. Going Too Far

Disclaimer: "_Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does what ever a Spider-Pig does. Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a pig. Look out, here's a Spider-Pig." _

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. For the record, I don't own Spider-Man, or Spider-Pig! Oink, oink!

* * *

Chapter VI  
Going Too Far

_"If you're just joining us at this time, NYPD authorities have just arrived at the Daily Bugle. It appears that Spider-Man has been attacked by an as yet unknown assailant."_

Mary Jane was in absolute shock upon seeing Peter dangling over the Bugle. She was reaching that point where she just wanted to deny everything that was presented in front her. A long time ago, she'd more than convinced herself that Peter could handle himself in the direst situations. This was all against the likes of the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, the Lizard, Scorpion and the Hobgoblin. Venom was a different story, since he possessed all of Peter abilities and then some. Mary Jane simply held her hand to mouth to keep from screaming. Liz Allen was sitting beside Mary Jane to try and comfort her. The anchorwoman on the television continued on with her report.

_"We're just now receiving new information: the assailant is believed to be the creature that first appeared alongside Flint Marko, AKA Sandman, just over a year ago. According to initial reports from several sources, the creature calls itself, Venom."_

Mary Jane shook her head in endless denial, and she though to herself, _Please God, help my husband. Please!_

_------------------------------------------------ _

Jean DeWolff pulled up to the scene in her car and surveyed the chaotic scene. It was the proverbial sea of humanity standing with their collectives heads pointed up at the sky. Jean looked up as well and confirmed what she'd already known. She saw Spider-Man in the unyielding grasp of Venom. She then heard one of the bystanders exclaim something about a mask they'd found on the ground. Jean didn't dare want to believe it to be true; that Spider-Man's mask had been removed. She wasn't the only one. J. Jonah Jameson had also noticed the mask and ordered a cameraman to get the shot of the hero unmasked. Jean wouldn't let it happen. Over time, she'd grown to respect Spider-Man, even considering him a friend. Jean snagged the mask from the bystander before motioning to Stan Carter.

"Get that cameraman outta here, Carter." she said, needed to raise her voice to be heard.

Stan looked toward the cameraman and then back at Jean. "You want me to take that camera from him?"

"I don't care if you have to shoot him," Jean pointed out. "Just get him outta sight, pronto. I want every single camera here to be confiscated quickly."

A confused Stan said, "Um, I'll get the other on it right away."

Stan couldn't really figure out why Jean was so concerned for Spider-Man, being that in the past, she was immensely critical about him. Stan himself was more open to the hero's action, although he secretly wished Spider-Man didn't always hold back when dealing with the underworld scum. Stan wished the hero would just off each and every crook that popped up like a pimple on Prom Night. Be that as it may, Stan still had a job to do and went after the cameraman. They tussled for a moment before Stan retrieved the camera. Jonah approached and wasn't to happy with what transpired.

"What the hell are you doing? That's five thousand dollar camera," Jonah tried to take the camera from Stan. "I can have you arrested."

Stan got right in Jonah's and said, "I _am _the police." Stan then yanked the camera from Jonah.

Jonah was speechless and then spotted Jean amid the crowd. "You; DeWolff! I demand you fire that officer immediately and return my camera."

"You'll get back it when the tape's been erased." Jean casually said.

"Erased," Jonah bellowed. "That camera is property of my studio. I can sue you."

This time, it was Jean who got in Jonah's face and she snarled. "Then sue me."

Jonah went silent and Jean stormed off. _Dammit, she called my bluff._

---------------------------------------------------

Peter was struggling to break free of Venom's malicious grasp but made very little headway. The tendrils were obviously far stronger than his own webbing. In fact, they were stronger than he was in general. Peter was actually far more concerned about his loved ones. If his identity were to be blown in this manner, his loved ones would've become targets. Venom meanwhile, was wistfully swinging his captive to and fro like a pendulum. He was toying with Peter, who knew full well that Venom could just drop him at a moments' notice. Venom just wanted to prolong the torture for the hell of it.

"We bet you're worried about your loved ones…" Venom said. "Worried about what could happen to them if you weren't around. Well, don't worry! We'll be sure to _take care_ of them."

"Venom, they have nothing to do with this," Peter shouted, still trying to get loose. "This is between you and me."

"They're as much a part of this as you are," Venom snarled. "When you're gone, maybe we'll pay Mary Jane a little visit. How's that sound, tiger?"

"That won't… happen!"

Peter managed to shift himself in the net and shot a glob of webbing right into Venom's bug eyes. Venom let out an ear shattering roar and reached to pull the webbing off. This gave Peter the opening he so desperately needed and pulled hard on the tendrils. The gamble worked, and Peter began falling, pulling Venom down with him. The crowd below gave a collective gasp as they watched the rivals tumble down toward them. Peter and Venom tussled with each other as the ground grew closer. Peter won the battle of attrition, shot out a web line and swung away, while Venom impacted the ground with a mighty thud. Peter swung for higher ground and landed on a flagpole a good distance from the Bugle. Venom sat up from the massive crater he'd left behind and roared in rage. He immediately started climbing back up the side of the Bugle and the cops on hand opened fire on him. The blood drained from Jonah's face as he watched his precious newspaper get shot up, his mouth agape. The gunfire stopped only when Venom disappeared over the edge.

Jean approached the speechless and flabbergasted Jameson and whispered, "Sorry about your building."

Jean walked off before Jonah could say anything. She then turned her attention toward where Spider-Man had swung away. Spider-Man was gone, and Jean looked at the mask she'd taken from the one bystander earlier. For once, Jean seemed genuinely concerned for Spider-Man. Stan Carter approached the captain and noticed the mask.

"Jeez, is that his mask?" he asked.

The answer was painfully obvious, but Jean answered anyway. "Yeah! Did you confiscate all the cameras?"

"We got all of them," Stan answered, "But why confiscate them at all?"

Jean turned to Stan with renewed vigor. "I won't let Spider-Man's identity be exposed like this. Not by these buzzards. Get all the tapes back to the station: I want each and every of them erased."

Stan nodded and went back to the task at hand. Jean went back to looking to where Spider-Man was hiding. Venom in the meantime was watching the chaos he'd perpetrated from a distance. He hissed in a mixture anger and delight, his tongue waving in the cold winter wind. Spider-Man had obvious gotten away for now, but Venom knew this was far from over.

------------------------------------------------

Mary Jane couldn't stand being in hiding any more. It wasn't that she wasn't comfortable staying with Liz, but MJ was devoted to Peter and his ongoing crusade. Peter had been lying low at home since the incident at the Bugle, and MJ was there for him. For some reason, Venom hadn't attempted to attack Peter at his home. Christmas had long passed and now it was New Year's Eve. Normally, the couple would be primed for the New Year to start. But with someone as fanatical as Venom running around, a New Year's celebration seemed like a moot point. Now, Peter was sitting quietly on the sofa with his hands folded together and he was deep in thought.

"Why is he doing this to us?" Mary Jane asked.

Peter didn't answer, nor did he know to how to answer. He finally said. "It's me. Eddie blames me for ruining his reputation, and he obviously doesn't mind using my loved one to hurt me."

"That's insane," MJ said in denial. "We never did anything to him. Not Aunt May, not me…"

"It doesn't matter one iota to him, MJ," Peter snapped and stood up from the sofa. "It's even worse because of the symbiote; Eddie has all of my powers and he knows my biggest secret."

A hush came between the couple, only to be broken by MJ. "Is there any way you can stop him; any kind of advantage?"

Peter went into deep thought like he had been in moments before. He finally answered. "The last time we fought, I noticed that the symbiote was vulnerable to sonic vibrations. In theory, I could use that weakness to my advantage, but I have no idea where to start."

MJ approached Peter as they heard a knock on the apartment door. MJ ignored and told Peter, "You'll find a way, Peter. Of that much, I'm sure."

More of the insensate knocking sounded across the apartment, and MJ went over to see who at the door. Peter returned to his thought process. Sound was Venom's Achilles Heal, there was no question about. It was how Peter first defeated his alien counterpart, albeit barely. So Peter had his one plan. It was just a question of how to execute it. Peter was suddenly brought out of his thought process by Mary Jane's screaming. A new thought streaked into Peter's brain: Venom. Peter rushed toward the door and found Mary Jane, scared to death and in the grip of Eddie Brock. Eddie was mostly in civilian clothes except for his arm, which was in symbiote form and covering Mary Jane's mouth.

"Hey, Pete! Love what you've done with the place," Eddie said with a twisted smirk. He was holding MJ tightly and Peter was paralyzed. "Well, aren't you going to invite us in?"

Peter could see tear beginning to stream down his wife's face. "Let her go, Eddie!"

"That's a pretty poor choice of words," Eddie said, tightening his grip on MJ. "What would've happened if your blushing bride was dangling from 70 stories? Don't you think we wouldn't _let her go_ then?"

"I already told you," Peter said. "This is between us."

Eddie chuckled at the apparent absurdity of the situation. "In that case, we dare you to try and do something about it."

Peter was seething with more rage than he'd ever experienced in all of his past battles. Without a second thought, he lunged like a rabid wolverine right at Eddie. Eddie threw MJ to the floor and in one solid motion, backhanded Peter clear across the living room. Peter crashed into the wooden coffee table, reducing it to splinters. MJ shouted Peter's name and crawled to her fallen husband, while Eddie disappeared out the door from which he arrived, laughing. Peter slowly pulled himself up to his knee and held his back as Mary Jane hugged him tightly.

MJ was in tear as she told Peter, "Oh my God, Peter! He won't stop. He's never going to stop torturing us."

Peter was still seething, so much so that he barely heard MJ. His heavy breathing halted when he saw the pain in his wife's eyes. "Yes he will. I will not let Venom terrorize us any further."

Peter stood up with MJ, who seemed to sense a new wave of determination building within Peter. It had happened countless times before against a myriad of villains. This time, as Peter started off toward a closet, the determination was far more pronounced. It almost frightened Mary Jane more so than Venom, or Doc Ock or even the Green Goblin. Peter eventually came back with his costume on except the mask. He was lucky to have a spare after the previous fight at the Bugle. Peter looked at Mary Jane and could plainly see the worry in her eyes. A part of Peter wanted to comfort his wife and assure her that he'll be okay. Another part told Peter that he might not make it, but if he did go, he'd go down fighting. He'd damn sure take Venom down with him.

Through the uncomfortable silence, Mary Jane uttered one thing to Peter. "Go get 'em, tiger!" Peter nodded, pulled on the mask and leaped out the window into the city. MJ approached the window and watched her husband swing away. She whispered, "You better come back to me."

--------------------------------------------------

Spider-Man swung across the skyline in search of his alien rival. Venom couldn't have gone too far after the stunt he pulled moments ago. Still, Spider-Man knew full well that he needed to be extremely careful. Venom could emerge from anywhere and Spider-Man wouldn't know it until it was too late. Maybe the web slinger was counting on it this time. He'd been ambushed plenty of times to know that Venom was capable of catching him off guard. But Spider-Man didn't count on finding what appeared as a small fender bender in the streets below. Something about the accident was off, and it prompted Spider-Man to investigate. He landed atop a street light and scanned the area, before addressing the people involved in the accident.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked.

One of the people, a burly cabby, threw something at Spider-Man and shouted, "What'd you care? You the one who caused this mess."

_Well, that's gratitude for you!_ Spider-Man thought.

Another witness, this one a brunette haired woman, said to the cabby, "No, it was that _other_ Spider-Man. The big, black one!"

Spider-Man hopped off the street light and landed in front of the woman. "Did you see where he went?"

Spider-Man received his answer in the most punishing of ways imaginable. Venom came out of nowhere and kicked Spider-Man clear across the street into the side of a parked car. As Spider-Man tried to get up, Venom was quickly on him and took him by the neck. Venom immediately pounded on Spider-Man with a series of vicious punches to the stomach, then a knee and finally a hard left hook to the face. Spider-Man went down to the asphalt with Venom towering over him.

"You took your eye off the ball, Spider-Man," the alien villain snarled. "Now, we're going to take your head off your shoulders."

Venom lifted one giant leg up off the ground. Spider-Man remained unconscious and totally defenseless. Was this finally it? Was this going to be the end of Spider-Man?

* * *

Author's note: Oh, crap! Another cliffhanger! You better stay tuned to find out what happens next.


	7. Beyond Fury And Faith

Disclaimer: Okay, it's been all funny, yak, yak up until now. It's time now for the big fight. Enjoy! _**We sure will! **_Oh, and be on the look out for a surprising twist.

* * *

Chapter VII  
Beyond Fury and Faith

Venom reared his massive leg back and aimed directly for Spider-Man's head. One simple but powerful stomp and it would all be over. Spider-Man suddenly came to life and blinded Venom with a glob of webbing. Being momentarily blind, Venom was ill prepared when Spider-Man drove his feet right into the villain jaw. Spider-Man back flipped away toward the near wall, propping himself to the side of a building. Venom was still struggling to remove the webbing, so he didn't see Spider-Man lunged toward. Spider-Man flew over Venom, grasped him by the head and flipped him up and over. Venom was slammed into the side of an opposite building. Venom picked himself up from the rubble, roared his disapproval and charge at Spider-Man. Spider-Man shot out a pair of web lines but Venom literally clawed through the lines. Venom responded by shooting the black tendrils at Spider-Man. Spider-Man hopped, skipped and leaped over and around each and every tendril before one caught his ankle. Venom used that one tendril to swing Spider-Man around in a circle. Spider-Man managed to break free and clung to a building side. Venom lunged after his foe but Spider-Man quickly leaped away. Spider-Man returned to the street while Venom clung to the exact same place that Spider-Man clung to. Spider-Man webbed Venom in the back and attempted to pull him down. This time, Venom pulled Spider-Man to him and slammed him into the wall. Spider-Man recovered, clung to the wall himself and he and Venom reached a stalemate.

"We're going to enjoy eating your spleen." Venom snarled.

Spider-Man cringed at hearing Venom _plan, _such as it was. "Now, that's just wrong."

Venom roared and lunged at Spider-Man, who managed to avoid an initial attack. Venom wound up digging his big clawed fingers into the brick siding. The villain again clawed and swiped at the hero, and Spider-Man was succeeding in generally avoid the blow. Venom was getting noticeably annoyed and shot out a black line. Spider-Man back flipped out of the way and shot out a web line. Venom caught the line and the rivals engaged in a tug-o-war, all while clinging feet only to the side of a building. Venom won out and pulled Spider-Man to him hard and then bashing the hero with a powerful fist. Spider-Man spiraled all the way back down to the street, landing with a hard crash. Venom followed and tried to pounce on Spider-Man, who moved in the nick of time. Spider-Man tried a straight punch that was blocked by Venom, who went for his own punch. Spider-Man ducked and dodged a following series of blows before finally scoring with a hard punch to Venom's face. Spider-Man kept striking Venom repeatedly until Venom tried a wild swing. The hero ducked that and a followed swing but took a backhand to the chest. The blow sent Spider-Man flying through the air but Spider-Man shot a line back to Venom's chest.

Venom took hold of the line and snarled, "Big mistake!"

"Oh great!" Spider-Man quipped as Venom pulled hard on the line.

Spider-Man tried to leap over Venom like before but Venom wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice. He let Spider-Man go over his head, and then Venom swung Spider-Man all the way around. Venom released the line and let Spider-Man fly, but Spider-Man shot two lines to the ground. Spider-Man slingshot himself right at Venom and connected hard. Venom literally went rolling across the asphalt, leaving a trail of rubble in his wake. The symbiote became a major lifesaver for its human host by actually embedding itself into the street. It slowed Venom's uncontrolled rolling, but it didn't stop Spider-Man from shooting a series of web spheres. The spheres merely bounced off of Venom's chest and face. In the end, Venom was barely phased.

"What were those supposed to accomplish?" the villain asked.

Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head and answered, "Well technically, they were supposed to hurt."

Venom shook his massive head and said, "Seems like a good idea. Mind if we borrow it?"

"Actually, yeah I do." Spider-Man quipped.

"Too bad!" Venom started shooting his version of Spider-Man's web spheres, which Spider-Man was able to avoid.

Spider-Man actually quipped, "Okay, I am _so_ suing for gimmick infringement."

Venom wasn't listening to Spider-Man's witty yet annoying banter, instead shooting a series of black spheres at him. Spider-Man did his absolute best to avoid the projectiles, many of which leaving craters everywhere they hit. The spheres were obviously larger and stronger than the hero's version, but not nearly as fast. Spider-Man was able to use his speed to his advantage, but that didn't stop Venom from shooting up the entire street. Spider-Man found an opening upon returning to the street and shot a line past Venom, snagging an ill fated mailbox. Spider-Man pulled hard and yanked the mailbox from its foundation. The mailbox slammed into Venom's back and briefly stunned the villain. Venom shook off the blow and responded in kind, shooting his own line past Spider-Man and snagging a parked beetle. Venom pulled hard, and the beetle hit Spider-Man before he could move. Both went flying through the air. The beetle crashed to the asphalt in its side, while Spider-Man landed hard a few feet away. Venom landed atop the broken vehicle and snagged Spider-Man with a line.

Venom began spinning Spider-Man in a wide circle, all the while gleefully chanting, "Round and round the spider goes, where he stops…" Venom released the line and Spider-Man soared uncontrollably through the air. "We really don't care."

Spider-Man wound up rolling directionless down a flight of stairs, leading down into the subway. A myriad of onlookers were shocked to see the red and blue clad hero landing hard like he did. Some even briefly suspected him to be punch-drunk. Then Venom appeared and the onlookers rushed away. Spider-Man was just starting to get up as Venom prepared to drive his massive fist into his rivals' back. Perhaps out of sheer instinct, Spider-Man moved seconds before Venom could literally squash him. Spider-Man struck Venom with series of straight punches to the face and chest, most of which barely registered to the villain. Venom responded with his own blows: two straight punches and roundhouse kick. The last blow threw Spider-Man down, his body sliding near the edge of the platform. Venom pounced on Spider-Man and prepared to deliver the killing strike, until an oncoming subway train sped past them. The screeching of the wheels against the track adversely affected Venom and he staggered back holding his head. Spider-Man nipped up and noticed the symbiote rippling away from the shrill sound, and for a brief moment, he was sure he could Eddie's face behind the ooze. Spider-Man wanted to snag Eddie from the symbiote, but Eddie would've just as soon leaped right back for it. So Spider-Man elected to hop onto the speeding train, thinking Venom wouldn't be likely to follow him. But Venom hopped onto the tail end. The actual movement of the train didn't seem to affect Venom as much as the screeching of wheels on rails.

"We're booked for a round trip, Parker." Venom snarled.

Whether or not Spider-Man actually heard Venom was the last thing on his mind. _Times like this, I wish I was fighting Doc Ock._

Spider-Man had to crawl across the roof of the train to avoid the any oncoming subway lights. He looked back periodically to see if Venom was still behind him. Venom was actually crawling beneath the train in a bid to surprise Spider-Man. The occasional screeching sound periodically affected the symbiote, but that was a small price to pay. Spider-Man looked back to see if Venom was closing in. To the hero's surprise, Venom reappeared right in front of him.

"May we see your ticket, please?"

Spider-Man flipped away quickly, only for Venom to just close the distance between the two. The rivals returned to trading impact laden strikes back and forth from atop the moving train. Both of them needed to avoid any incoming subway light and the like before returning to beaten the hell out of each other. Venom won the exchange, driving Spider-Man right through the roof into the car on which they fought. The passengers within the car were stunned to see Spider-Man, and terrified to see Venom enter. Venom picked Spider-Man up off the floor and simply threw toward the back of the car. Spider-Man pulled himself up just in time to see Venom barreling toward him. Spider-Man quickly clung onto the ceiling and Venom, unable to control his own foreword movement, wound up smashing through the tail end of the car to the outside. Venom careened onto the track and, unluckily, landed on the third rail. Spider-Man leaped onto the ceiling of subway and watch as Venom was electrocuted on the third rail. Watching the villain endure such pain, Spider-Man inwardly hoped that at least Eddie would survive. The symbiote, not so much! Venom rolled off of the third move and wasn't moving afterwards. Spider-Man jumped down to check if Venom was breathing. No sooner had the hero closed the distance, a black tendril whipped Spider-Man across the tunnel into the wall. Venom slowly got to his feet and snarled.

"Doesn't anything stop you?" Spider-Man wondered.

"There's nothing that will stop us from tearing you in half." Venom announced.

Before Venom could close the distance, another train sped passed and separated the rivals. Spider-Man took advantage and swung onto the roof of the train. Venom followed suit. Spider-Man took a very quick glance at a passing partition. This train was heading for Grand Central Terminal. Spider-Man could hear Venom roaring from far behind him. He looked back and spotted Venom rapidly gaining on him. Spider-Man knew he didn't have much room to maneuver in the tunnel. He needed to get topside and Grand Central Terminal was his best bet. Within minutes, the train was passing through the station and Spider-Man got set to depart. Venom gave Spider-Man a much un-required and punched him right of the train into the station. Spider-Man slammed into a pillar and then fell near a series of lockers, where a couple of security guard tried to help him. Venom entered the station and sent the various bystanders scattering. Spider-Man saw Venom coming his way, and the spotted a baton on one of the guards.

"Nice stick, can I borrow it," Spider-Man didn't wait for answer and simply took the baton. "Thank you!" Spider-Man leaped onto the wall opposite the lockers.

Venom seemed to laugh at his rival. "You really expect to hurt us with that?"

"Pretty much, yeah!"

Spider-Man leaped back toward the lockers just as Venom charged at him. Without hesitation, Spider-Man swung the baton right into the lockers. Since both the baton and the lockers were metal, they produced a deafening clang that stopped Venom in his tracks. The symbiote vibrated away from the shrill noise and Venom fell to his knees in pain. Spider-Man hit the lockers repeatedly, watching the symbiote migrate away from the unbearable noise. Eventually, Venom snagged the baton from Spider-Man and the agonizing sound waves ceased.

"That… wasn't…" Venom effortlessly snapped the baton in two. "…nice!"

"Cripes, now he's pissed." Spider-Man muttered, moments before being catapulted out through one of the station windows.

Spider-Man saved himself with a web line and clung to a building opposite from the station. He knew the lockers alone weren't enough to stop Venom. He needed something bigger. Then he realized that the church where he'd first discarded the symbiote was few blocks away. That was his best chance, his only chance. Spider-Man swung toward the church with Venom emerging from the station and giving chase. It was likely that Venom wouldn't fall for the trick, but Spider-Man it saw as his best hope. Coming to a stop outside the bell tower, Spider-Man briefly looked around for any sign of Venom. Nothing. Spider-Man climbed down into the tower and entered the main hall and waited.

"C'mon, you cheap, overgrown imitation." Spider-Man mused as he waited.

Without warning, Venom surprised and grasped Spider-Man from behind, the momentum sending them to the floor below. "Did you honestly think that plan would work? We won't fall for the same trick twice."

Venom threw Spider-Man clear across the hall. Spider-Man took down several church benches as he flew aimlessly through the air. The hero hit the floor and slid across it, coming to rest beneath the statue of Jesus Christ. It occurred briefly to Peter, the time he told Eddie to get religion. Now the rolls seemed to have reversed, and in Venom's favor.

Staring at the statue, Spider-Man mused, "I could use a little help here, God."

Venom took Spider-Man by the fabric of his costume and held him high. "You look tired, Parker. Let us put you out of _our_ misery."

"Whatever you say, Brock," Spider-Man wheezed, seemingly beaten. "But I know something you don't know."

"And what's that?" Venom snarled.

With his last once on breath, Spider-Man told Venom, "The timing mechanism."

As if God had really answered Spider-Man's prayers, the timing mechanism within the bell tower set the gears in motion. The massive bell began ringing, resonating within the entire church. As expected, Venom was affected and the symbiote was reacting. Venom releases his grip on Spider-Man, who clung to the giant church organ. The symbiote was vibrating away the sound of the bell, but more was needed. Spider-Man snagged a nearly organ pipe and slammed it into the other pipes. Now Venom was being assaulted by sound waves from both sides, and the symbiote was literally tearing itself from its human host. Spider-Man kept striking the pipes, even as the shrill sound sent his own teeth vibrating. Venom eventually ran for the church entrance, which happened to be directly beneath the bell. A little further and he'd be free. But it was too little, too late. Venom fell to his knees and the symbiote receded completely for its host, leaving only Eddie Brock behind. The symbiote attempted to slither away as Eddie reached for it. But the bell was still going and weakening the alien ooze as it slithered into a nearby storm drain.

Eddie protested the alien's unceremonious departed and reached for it. "No! No, you can't leave me now. I need you with me."

Too late! The symbiote had disappeared into the drain second before Spider-Man could capture it with webbing. "It's gone!"

Eddie clawed at the webbing, tried damn near everything to reach the symbiote to no avail. "Peter," he cried, grabbing Spider-Man by his costume, but crying ultimately to Peter Parker. "You have to help me get it back. Please, I need it. I can't live without it."

It pained Peter to see Eddie in this state of mind, so much so that Peter removed his mask. "Eddie, it's over. It's gone. You can stop this carnage now, Eddie. You can stop with the anger."

Eddie's breathing was shallow and he finally broke down into tears. "You'll never understand. It only loves me for my anger. My hate!"

Sometime later, police, paramedics and camera crews were at the church. The police quarantined the area from the general public, while the paramedics loaded a seemingly comatose Eddie Brock into an ambulance. He wasn't being sent to any hospital, but to a psychiatric facility. Spider-Man watched the proceedings from afar. He was genuinely concerned for Eddie, even though he tried to utterly annihilate him. Had things been different, they could've been friends. At least the symbiote was gone, and maybe Eddie would get the help he needed. Spider-Man shot a web line and made for home, where he knew Mary Jane was waiting.

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Later that night, Peter and Mary Jane watched the television as the New Year's celebration was four minutes away. Aunt May was with them, along with Liz Allen and Flash Thompson. Peter was thankfully relaxed after the day he had against Venom. He deserved the reprieve, although he secretly wished he could more for Eddie.

"Three minutes, everybody," Liz exclaimed, a bit overly excited. "Just think, Flash, this time next month, we'll be married. Can you believe it?"

Flash seemed less than enthused, even though he did propose to Liz months earlier. "Yeah, I can hardly wait."

"C'mon Eugene, it's not that bad." Peter said confidently, with Mary Jane held snuggly in his arm.

"Speak for yourself, Parker," Flash snapped. "And don't call me that."

"No need to quarrel, everyone." Aunt May reasoned.

"May's absolutely right," MJ added. "Let's just sit back and enjoy."

"Well said Mrs. Parker." Peter said, kissing Mary Jane's forehead.

With the onscreen countdown reaching two minutes, the group heard a knock on the door. Again? Peter and Mary Jane had had enough of uninvited guests for one day. Peter went over to answer the door. Who was it this time? Rhino? Shocker? A Russian big game hunter out to capture and kill Spider-Man? Peter looked out the peephole and was surprised at who was on the other side. He opened the door and met Jean DeWolff.

"Capt. DeWolff! What brings you here?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Parker, but I need to speak to you." Jean said.

"Um, sure," Peter said closing the door enough but keeping it ajar. "So, what's the problem?"

I'll get to the point," Jean sighed and folded her arms. "Look, I know you take photos of Spider-Man every now and then, which would me to believe that you two are working together. He brings down the crooks, you sell the pics and you both split the earnings."

"I've had a lot of people accuse me of that," Peter said. "Mostly Mr. Jameson."

"Just let me finish, Parker," Jean said, silencing Peter. "I used to see masked vigilantes as very problematic. That was until a few days ago." Jean pulled out something that was very familiar to Peter; Spider-Man's mask that was lost during the fight with Venom.

"I'd heard that Spider-Man lost his mask," Peter said, trying to keep calm. "Why bring it to me?"

"I've come to the conclusion that maybe a man in a mask has nothing to hide," Jean said. "Instead, a man in a mask has something to protect. If Spider-Man's identity was ever revealed, everyone he cares about would be in constant danger. Wouldn't you agree..." Jean then smirked to Peter and whispered, "Spider-Man?"

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. He ultimately hung his head and said, "I guess… there's no point in denying anything," Peter looked back to see Mary Jane at the door with a worried face. He looked back at Jean, "Guilty as charged. So, what now?"

"Nothing," Jean surprising said, and even more surprisingly handing the mask to Peter. "I think you're going to need this," Jean started walking away from Peter and Mary Jane, and then turned and said, "Happy New Year."

Jean continued on her way and leaving Peter and Mary Jane in stunned silence. The only sound was coming from inside the apartment, where their guests were counting down the seconds to the New Year. At the final stroke of midnight, the New Year officially began. Yet for Peter and Mary Jane, the New Year brought a shocking revelation. It was a question of whether or Jean DeWolff could be trusted with no knowing Peter's biggest secret. Something deep within Peter told him reassured that he had nothing to fear. Jean wasn't the captain of the NYPD: to Peter and Spider-Man, she was a friend.

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As New York City celebrated the beginning of the New Year, something ominous was stirring in the sewers below. Having been forced to abandon its host, the alien symbiote emerged from a drain and into the shallow water. It was weakened significantly after the battle but it slithered to an unknown destination. It would find its host and resume the battle; a battle that was far from over.

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Author's note: So, Venom has been defeated and the city is safe and sound. End of story, right? WRONG!


	8. New Blood

Disclaimer: Yo, big ups to you guys for the reviews so far. I'm surprised that no one commented on the twist from the last chapter, but that's alright. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I don't own Spider-Man and company, of course.

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Chapter VIII  
New Blood

_(("Where… where am I?"_

_Peter opened his eyes and found himself staring at his reflection, in his Spider-Man costume. Something was very wrong, for Peter was hanging upside down wearing his costume but it was jet black. When did the symbiote reattach itself to Peter? Peter released the line from which he was hanging and clung to the skyscraper. He was terrified and he couldn't remember anything since the battle with Venom. He distinctly recalled the symbiote escaping into a storm drain but that was all. Now, it appeared as though the symbiote had returned to its first love. Or victim. Peter wanted to peel the symbiote off of him but when he reached for it, it vanished literally into thin air. Peter then found himself in his red and blue costume and seemingly alone, overlooking the city._

_"What was that," he wondered. Every word he spoke was followed by an echo. "How did I wind up in the middle of…" Peter never finished the question, instead being kicked violently across the roof._

_Venom appeared out of nowhere, his tongue lashing around in the air. The ooze receded so it was Eddie Brock who was facing Peter. "C'mon, Pete, join with us," The symbiote enveloped Eddie's face. "You know you want to. There's no point in denying it."_

_Venom let loose a series of tendrils, more than Peter could hope to avoid. Peter tried in sheer desperation to get loose but the tendrils had him tight and wouldn't let him go. He couldn't control his movement, so Peter was aware of his proximity near the edge of the roof. Peter fell and plunged toward the street below, now the entire symbiote attempting to bound with him. Peter ripped and tore at the symbiote as the street grew closer, and then everything went black. Peter found himself alone, still in his red and blue suit and in a dark place covered in webs. He looked himself over and reasoned that the symbiote was gone. Peter figured he could breathe a sigh of relief, but then the symbiote reappeared from underneath the suit._

_"No," Peter protested, trying to rip the symbiote from his body. "Not like this. No!"_

_It was already too late. The symbiote was rapidly engulfing Peter even as he tore at it to escape its grasp. Peter tried to swing away but the symbiote quickly wrapped around the web line and rendered it useless. Ultimately, Peter sank to his knees and went into a fetal position as the symbiote engulfed him completely. There wasn't anything left of Peter after that. In his place was a hideous, inhuman creature that only vaguely resembled Venom. Standing upright as it was, this creature was neither Peter nor Venom. It let out a hideous, ear piercing screech that seemed laced with nothing more than poison.))_

Peter awoke sweating profusely and breathing heavily, and unintentionally stirring Mary Jane from her sleep. "Peter? Peter, are you okay?"

Peter held his face in his hands, trying to wipe the sweat away. "I'm fine. I'm just a little… I don't know."

"You had that dream again, didn't you," MJ asked. "The same one you've been having for the past three weeks?"

Peter only nodded at first. "I know it's only a dream, but I can't shake the feeling that something's going to happen."

"Peter, the alien's gone," MJ said, trying to ease Peter's angst. "Eddie Brock's locked up. It's over."

"I want to believe that, MJ," Peter sighed in defeat. "I honestly do."

Mary Jane didn't know what more to say to Peter. All she could do was comfort him as best she could. Peter knew Mary Jane was trying to ease the angst that was growing inside. He also knew he wasn't exactly psychic. People had dreams all the time, although on occasions, the dreams were the same every single night. Peter simply felt in the pit of his stomach that the symbiote was still out there, waiting to make its next move.

-----------------------------------------------

"I'm not a bad person. I just wanted to give the people what they want," Eddie Brock appeared to have hit rock bottom, and now he was a patient at Ravencroft. "I guess my plans fell through the cracks at some point. If only my dad could see me now."

Ashley Kafka sat across from Eddie, actually closer in proximity since Eddie didn't show any violent tendencies. "You father? You mentioned him last week, Eddie. Let's discuss your childhood. What was it like?"

"Miserable," Eddie said, point blank. "My dad didn't quite hate me; he just didn't love me. He always gave me half-hearted encouragement, but I always knew he was disappointed in me. I guess that's why I started working for the Bugle. I wanted to prove to him that I worth something. And then along came the spider."

"That's when you decided to sell those the falsified photos, correct?" Ashley pointed out.

"Hey, I was just trying to give Jameson what he wanted," Eddie snapped. "Then Spider-Man ruined my life. He humiliated me. I lost everything. But then the alien symbiote came to me, and it gave me the power to do anything I wanted. But first we had to kill Spider-Man. We were the poison to that slimy little bug. We were Venom."

"Eddie, I know that you honestly believe everything you're telling me right now, but you need to come to the realization that this Venom thing never existed," Ashley said. "Venom was simply a persona that you created to cope with the mishaps of you life."

"Whatever makes you happy, Dr. Kafka," Eddie said. "But it was real for me. You see, I know who Spider-Man really is under that mask. But I'm keeping that to myself until the symbiote returns to me. Then, we'll see who needs therapy."

Ashley sighed. "Okay, that should bring an end to our session for this evening."

Eddie was escorted back by an orderly back to his padded cell with Ashley following them. He'd been incarcerated in Ravencroft for the past three weeks and in those three weeks, Eddie became something of a model patient. Ashley reasoned that some of the more unsettling patients could learn something. She didn't really hold out much hope for a select few as Eddie was sent into his cell. An unsettling thing about Eddie's cell was that it was right next to the cell that housed Cletus Kasady. Ashley walked into Eddie's cell, reasoning that Eddie wouldn't attempt to attack her or escape. Eddie never did.

"I have to go now, Eddie, but we'll continue our sessions tomorrow."

Eddie sat down on the lone mattress and looked at Ashley. "Do you really have leave, Dr. Kafka? It gets kind of lonely in here sometimes."

"Aw, ain't that cute," the maniacal voice of Cletus Kasady sounded. "Hey Brock, don't worry. I'll keep you company after I slice your girlfriend's throat."

Eddie didn't take kindly to Kasady's comment and punched the padded wall. "Shut the hell up, Kasady. I'll come over there and bust your ass."

"I dare you, you little punk." Kasady spat in defiance.

Eddie took a deep breath and regained his composer. "I'm sorry about that."

"Forget about it, Eddie. Look, you've made incredible progress since you've been here," Ashley said. "A few more sessions and you'll be ready to return to society."

"Well, I guess I owe my progress to you, Dr. Kafka. Thanks."

Ashley nodded. "Goon night, Eddie!"

Ashley left the cell and started off down the hall, while watched through the single window in the door. "Good night, Ashley."

"Hey, doc, don't be a stranger," Cletus shouted. "You're always welcome in the madhouse."

"You keep this up Kasady, and I'll ring your neck," Eddie shouted back at Cletus. "I swear to God I will."

"I'd like to see you try, Brock." Kasady spat back.

Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady bickered back and forth from that point. They didn't really draw too much attention to themselves. In fact, the only person who paid any sort of attention was Shriek. She was enjoying the turmoil, wishing only that she'd caused it.

-------------------------------------

By night's end, Ashley was ready to head home. Getting her things together and leaving her office, Ashley started out toward the front entrance. She turned sharply upon hearing a faint sound in the background and saw nothing. Dismissing the sound, Ashley kept walking as the lights went shut down in the asylum. She never would've notice the glob of black ooze creeping its way out of a storm drain in the floor. Still weak from a lack of a host, the symbiote slowly oozed its way down the darkened halls. It knew, somehow, someway, that its human host was here. Eddie in the meantime had fallen asleep. Cletus was still wide awake. He was busy cutting his forearm with a knife he'd smuggled into his cell. Neither of them was aware of the alien's presence. The symbiote slithered onward until it stopped and began to convulse. The convulsing ended as quickly as it started and the symbiote slithered on, seemingly unaware of a tiny part of it falling behind. The symbiote came to a single door and seeped underneath into the other side, where Eddie was sleeping. The smaller piece of the alien didn't follow, instead seeping underneath the next door. Eddie awoke from an all around restless sleep upon hearing a strange sound.

"Is someone there?" he asked.

Eddie had seemingly gone so crazy that he was now talking to shadow. He must have been crazy, because it appeared that the shadows were moving. Eddie needed to squint to make out what was there. He reached a hand out and the shadows seemed to reach out and grab him. Eddie stepped back and hit the padded wall in shock. The symbiote quickly and violently engulfed Eddie, steadily regaining its strength. Eddie fell to his knee and felt the familiar a feeling of wholeness in knowing the one he _loved_ had returned to him. The commotion caught the attention of Cletus Kasady.

"Hey, Brock, you dying in there or what?"

Cletus received his answer when a massive, burly black arm crashed through the padded wall. Then Cletus was staring right at the maw of a gigantic, humanoid creature. Caring less about the human standing in front of him, Venom bashed the wall opposite the door and escape through it. He just as quickly climbed up the otter wall. Cletus couldn't hope to follow the creature and could watch only in astonishment.

"No, no, no, no," Cletus protested. "Come back! Give me that power. I deserve it more than Brock. Give it to me."

---------------------------------------------

Ashley had just gotten into her car when she heard the escape alarm going off in the asylum. Then Venom landed on the hood of the car and snarled. Ashley screamed in absolute horror at the monster that was staring at her. Then something inside of Ashley told that something was familiar about the creature.

"Tell us doctor," Venom snarled. "Do you believe us, now? Or are we still delusional?"

Now Ashley was damn sure of everything. "Oh my God! Eddie, is that you?"

"There is _no_ Eddie Brock. We are Venom."

Venom hopped of the hood of the car, sprinting toward the front gates of the asylum. Ashley was horrified by what she saw, so much so that she couldn't bring herself to exit her car. Perhaps it was sheer idiocy or foolish bravery on her part, but Ashley got out of her car. It was just in time to spot Venom perched atop the stone wall. Venom looked back at Ashley, snarling at her. Strangely, Venom hesitated to move but eventually swung away.

"Eddie, comeback," Ashley yelled to no avail. "Eddie!"

----------------------------------------------

Cletus Kasady was still in utter shock at what transpired. He was even more shocked to have seen that monster that nearly bit his head off. Whatever kind of power that thing gave Brock, Cletus wanted it. He felt he needed it. Deserved it. So focused on the events was Cletus, he didn't notice the symbiote offspring that was slithering across his arm. The offspring found the cut that Cletus inflicted on himself and it was then that Cletus noticed. The symbiote seeped completely into the wound, and Cletus was left wondering if that was it. The symbiote offspring seeped back out, but something was different. The offspring was now blood red. Before Cletus could do anything, the symbiote rapidly engulfed him. The orderlies, five of them, heard Cletus' screaming and rushed to assess the problem. As they rushed over, the cell door was literally launched off its hinges. The impact startled an already startled Shriek and she was the first to see Cletus Kasady. Or what used to be Cletus Kasady. The monstrous black and blood red entity skulked out of the cell and faced the orderlies with yellowish white bug eyes and a mouthful of needle like teeth. An endless series of tendrils waved in the air around the monster.

"Kasady!?" one of the orderlies wondered.

For the first time, the creature spoke out. "Kasady… is… dead."

The monstrosity sent out the almost living tendrils and grasp two of the orderlies, literally squeezing the life out of them. One orderly attempted to attack Kasady, but he was with a series of flying razor tipped darts to his stomach. Kasady tossed the two lifeless orderlies aside and went after the remaining orderlies. He willed his arms into weapons, his left arm into a blade, and his right into an axe. The orderlies stood little chance in combating Kasady as he simply slashed and gouged them into pieces. Shriek laughed at the sight of the Kasady making mince meat out of the orderlies before Kasady turned to face her. The symbiote receded from Kasady's face so Shriek could face him. In a flash, Kasady ripped Shriek's cell door from its hinges. Shriek rushed out and Kasady cut off the strait jacket, freeing Shriek and exposing her in a black and silver costume.

"Interesting choice of clothes." Kasady commented.

"Please, take me with you," she begged, pleaded to Kasady. "You and me, we can unleash so much carnage around the world."

Kasady cocked his head at Shriek and he whispered, "You kind of cute," The comment made Shriek smile, until she felt what felt like a thousand knives thrust into her gut. "But you ain't my type."

Shriek's breathing went shallow and she muttered, "But… I… love you." Then she dropped to the floor in a heap.

Kasady smirked at his handy work and said, "Carnage, huh? That don't sound too bad," The symbiote enveloped around Kasady face. "Thanks, bitch!"

Cletus Kasady, now the living embodiment of carnage, set to carve a swath of destruction and mayhem. He'd left Shriek lying on the ground among the other bodies, reasoning that he didn't need her to bring the murderous hedonism he desired. Unbeknownst to Kasady, Shriek was actually still alive, albeit barely. Her fingers were moving ever so slightly. Kasady obviously wouldn't have care one way or another. All he really care about, if he cared at all, was the carnage he would indeed unleash upon the unsuspecting citizens. A new kind of Hell had come to New York.

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Authors note: That should clinch Chapter VIII and finally, Carnage is here. What do you guys think so far?


	9. The Writing On The Wall

Disclaimer: I still don't own the rights to Spider-Man. I know you're reading. I know you're watching. I can see you. If you don't stop that, you're gonna go blind.

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Chapter IX  
The Writing On The Wall

Jean DeWolff was used to seeing dead bodies. It came with the job. But the corpses were usually still in one piece. Jean was taken very much aback at seeing the mutilated remains of the orderlies as she investigated Ravencroft that afternoon. She was tough enough to stomach the scene, which was more she could for a couple of officers under her command. Coming up from another part of the crime was Stan Carter. He had a clipboard in his hands and a slightly pale completion on his face.

"I assume that's a body count on that clipboard." Jean exclaimed.

Stan took a deep breath, which was understandable consider the things he'd seen. "It's more like a body _part_ count. I think some limbs are missing, and maybe an organ or two."

"Just give me the casualty rundown, Carter." Jean quickly interrupted.

"Uh, right," Stan fumbled on his words. "So far, we've counted nine victims; six orderlies and guards and three patients."

"No survivors?" Jean asked.

"Only one patient survivor, Sandra Deel, but she's in pretty serious condition," Stan said. "There's something else; the asylum has two patients unaccounted for: Eddie Brock and…"

Stan stalled on his report, prompting Jean to ask, "And who, Carter? Don't hold out on me."

"Kasady."

That was the last thing Jean wanted to hear. "Cripes, more good news," Jean said out of pure sarcasm. Then she was caught off guard by a sudden camera flash. It was Ben Reilly again. "Reilly, you little punk; get out of here."

"C'mon, captain," Ben pleaded. "The people deserve to know what happened in here."

Jean swiftly snagged the camera out of Ben hands. "Not on my watch, kid. Would you like to know what happened to the last guy who stuck his nose into everything?"

"Ned Leeds," Ben interrupted. "I know how he was murdered by the Hobgoblin. I did my homework."

"Then you ought to be able to learn from the past, or you'll wind up just like Leeds. Got it," Jean gave Ben no further thought and turned back to Stan. "Is there anything else of interest, Carter?"

"Yeah, there's something else," Stan continued. "I think you'll want to see this for yourself."

Stan led Jean to another area of the asylum. Ben followed close behind. Walking through the hall it troubled Jean to see the various mutilated bodies of orderlies and inmates alike. It was like something out of a Stephen King novel. Just more grotesque. The sight made Ben almost sick to his stomach, and he wasn't normally squeamish around blood. Stan led the pair into a room, asking them if they were at all ready to see what was inside. Jean nodded and entered the room, with Ben following. There were no bodies inside. Instead there was writing on the stone wall. Jean slid a finger across the writing and realized it was blood. Ben's jaw was agape at the sight. Jean took a few steps back took get a full view of the writing; it simply read: CARNAGE RULES!

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Later in the evening, the ominous figure of Venom swing across the skyline toward the Parker residence. He had a major score to settle with Spider-Man. Landing atop a building opposite the Parker residence, Venom stealthily climbed down the side and went still. He gazed into a window of the apartment and found Peter and Mary Jane enjoying a quiet evening together. How quaint! The symbiote receded and exposed Eddie's face to the frigid weather. The sight of Peter enjoying such moments, disgusted Eddie. He believed Peter had taken everything from him and was now living the life that belonged to Eddie Brock. Eddie wanted to lunge right into the apartment and tear his rival in half. So why was he hesitating? Eddie should've made his move right then and there. Peter deserved it. Didn't he? Eddie thought about it and was quickly brought out of his trance by a phone ringing inside the apartment.

Inside, Mary Jane answered the phone. "Hello, Parker residence," A momentary pause followed before MJ turned to Peter. "Peter; it's Capt. DeWolff. She wants to talk to you."

Peter was reluctant to speak to Jean after she'd deduced his secret identity. He answered anyway. "Capt. DeWolff; what can I do for you?"

On the other end of the line, Jean answered, "We've got problems, Parker. I need you… I need Spider-Man to meet me on the roof of the police department."

"What kind of problems?" Peter asked.

"Just get down here, Parker," Jean spat. "I won't ask again." Jean hung up and left Peter in astonishment.

Mary Jane was confused as well and asked, "What's going on, Peter?"

"I'm not sure," Peter said, reaching into the closet and removing his costume. "DeWolff was being pretty tight lipped about it."

"That's pretty unusual." MJ commented.

"Yeah, and it's making me pretty uneasy," Peter said as he pulled on his costume. "As if it wasn't awkward enough when she found out me identity."

Mary Jane sighed, "Here I was, thinking we could finally put the secrets behind us."

Peter sighed and sat down next his wife. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's probably just a false alarm."

"But what if it isn't," MJ asked. "I'm not sure I can take more chaos. And what about the dreams you've been having lately?"

"MJ, they're just dreams," Peter said in reassurance. "Dreams pass, but I understand your concern."

"I'm concerned about lot of things, Peter." MJ said.

Peter nodded and gently touch Mary Jane's chin. "Don't worry about it."

Peter stood up and walked toward the window, opening it. After pulling his mask on, Peter said, "I'll see you soon, honey."

MJ quickly stood up and said, "Peter, wait. I have to tell you something."

Peter impulsively said, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon and then we'll talk."

Without a second though, Peter shot out a web line and vanished into the night. Mary Jane moved to the window to hopefully get a brief glimpse. Peter was so impulsive sometimes. Mary Jane covered herself with a blanket to keep warm from the frigid weather. Mary Jane looked out briefly across to the opposite building where there was nothing. She was generally unaware that Venom had been there earlier, but he was gone now. Leaning her head against the windowsill, Mary Jane remained deeply worried for Peter. She sighed and held her free hand against her stomach. She'd have to tell Peter sooner or later. It was just a question of how Peter would react to the news; Mary Jane was pregnant.

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Jean paced back and forth around the room of the police department. She gazed at her wristwatch. Thirty five minutes! What the bloody hell was keeping Spider-Man? Did he web swing into heavy traffic? Jean would've thought that after deducing his dirt little secret, Spider-Man would at least have the decency to show up on time. Shaking her head, Jean paced for about a few more minutes before finally deciding to return indoors. It was pretty cold, even though it was the early days of March. Then Spider-Man appeared out of thin air and startled Jean to the core.

"Cripes, you nearly gave me a damn heart attack."

"Sorry," Spider-Man said. "Old habits die hard. What did you need see me about?"

Jean took a quick breath. "I'll cut right to the chase; there was a breakout at Ravencroft last night; a number of orderlies, guards and a couple of patients were massacred. I'm doing everything I can to keep the story suppressed , but it's bound to break sooner or later."

"Something tells me that's not the worst of it," Spider-Man quipped. "And for once, I _don't_ need my spider-sense to tell me that."

"That's a pretty good way of putting things," Jean said. "Your old _buddy_, Eddie Brock, he was one of the escapees. Cletus Kasady was the other one."

"If Brock got out, that means the symbiote found him," Spider-Man mused. "I have to track him down, of course I'm not thrilled about it."

"What about Kasady?" Jean asked.

"One man or an alien lunatic; Kasady can wait."

"You do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to," Jean said. "Just one thing: if you feel the need to go after Kasady, you should try searching at St Estes Orphanage. He has a habit of hanging out there before going on a murder spree; some kind of religious thing."

Spider-Man nodded and told Jean, "My primary concern is Venom, but I'll look into it when I get a chance."

Jean nodded and before Spider-Man could leave, she called out, "Peter," Spider-Man turned, knowing it was the first time the captain of the NYPD had addressed him by his real name. With a slight nod, Jean said, "Good luck!"

"Thanks, Jean!" Spider-Man said before shooting a web line and vanishing into the night.

------------------------------------------------

It must've been an odd twist of fate that Spider-Man happened across St. Estes Orphanage. He came to rest on a building ledge opposite the orphanage. The place was a mess. Actually, Spider-Man did recall reading an article about it. Apparently, it was Cletus Kasady who burned half of the orphanage to the ground, killing the head administrator and several orphans. Kasady even pushed a girl in front of an oncoming bus at one point. Kasady was only 15 at the time, so he must've been a seriously sadistic pup. Spider-Man swung into the burned out portion of the building, crawling further into the darkness. He noticed light from a dim lit area and crawled to it. That was where Spider-Man found Cletus Kasady, sitting in front a pyre. Weird! Spider-Man very silently crawled down to the flimsy floor on which Kasady sat until he landed right behind him.

"Hey Kasady! Long time no see!"

Kasady slowly turned his head toward Spider-Man and grinned wide. "I hoped I'd run into you again, Spider-Man."

"You're going back to Ravencroft." Spider-Man declared.

Kasady's grinned widened and he stood up, no taller than the web slinger. "Who's gonna make me?"

Spider-Man didn't dare take the time to answer and grasped Kasady's arm. Kasady never stopped grinning. Out of nowhere, Kasady quickly and violently backhanded Spider-Man clear across the run down area. Spider-Man went crashing into an old kitchen stove. The fall hurt like hell, as if Spider-Man was thrown out of a moving vehicle. Spider-Man started to pick himself up and wondered how Kasady was able to waylay him like he did. Where was Kasady? Spider-Man wondered this as he leapt up and clung to a wall. Kasady must've slipped out of sight after knocking the hero around. As Spider-Man scanned the surrounding area, he was unaware of a series of red and black tendrils creeping their way behind him. Then the wall exploded behind Spider-Man and threw him to the floor again. Cletus Kasady landed in front of the web slinger, and Spider-Man was shocked upon seeing the monstrosity he'd become.

"What do you think of me now, Spider-_Man_?" Kasady snarled in a dual tone.

"Kasady?! There's another symbiote," Spider-Man yelled. "That's impossible!"

The symbiote opened it maw and revealed Kasady's face. Kasady broke into a psychotic cackling and declared, "Kasady? Not anymore; you can call me..." Kasady's face disappeared behind the crimson mask of the new monster. "Carnage!"

Without a second thought, Carnage lunged at with breakneck speed. Spider-Man barely jumped out of the way and over Carnage, shooting a pair of web lines. The lines snagged Carnage in the arm, and Carnage easily cut through them. Carnage shot a series of blood darts at Spider-Man, all of which the web slinger barely avoided. Spider-Man swung right at Carnage but had to abort an intended swinging kick when Carnage literally tackled him to the floor. Carnage reared his right arm back and willed it into a scythe. Spider-Man managed to kick Carnage away in time and back flipped out of range. Carnage chased after Spider-Man, wilding swinging the scythe and cackling maniacally. Spider-Man managed to get a free shot and nailed Carnage right in the jaw. Carnage simply smiled, revealing his needle like teeth, before continuing his relentless attack. He willed his left arm into an axe and slashed relentlessly at Spider-Man. Spider-Man had to back off and clung to a wall.

"Your big brother couldn't pull off those tricks." he quipped.

"That old pile of ooze ain't got nothing on me." Carnage snarled.

Carnage reared his right arm back and his claw like fingers extended out like lances. Spider-Man jumped away and tried to swing behind his foe. Carnage was on to him and swung his arm wildly. Spider-Man ducked and tried to strike but Carnage slashing at him, not giving Spider-Man a single chance to strike. Venom was _never_ this relentless. This vicious! Carnage hardly gave Spider-Man any sort of breathing room. Spider-Man finally found what he hoped was an opening and threw a straight punch. Instead, Carnage caught the arm and swung Spider-Man in a 360, throwing him across the area. Carnage released a series of tendrils after Spider-Man, snagging him in mid air. Laughing madly, Carnage slammed Spider-Man into every available wall, always retaining his grip. One last throw sent Spider-Man flying through a rotted wall. Spider-Man cringed in pain; more pain than he ever endured in all of his past battles. Carnage wasn't even close to finished and dragged Spider-Man to his feet. Carnage punched Spider-Man right in the face, laughing as he did it. Spider-Man was steadily losing consciousness.

"Don't go on me now, Spider-Man," Carnage snarled. "I'm just starting to have fun," Carnage gazed at Spider-Man and realize he was out cold. "Aw, too bad! Guess I'll have to kill you next time. So many zombies to slay and so little time."

Carnage broke into another demented laugh and tossed the unconscious Spider-Man into a far wall. By the time Spider-Man regained consciousness, nearly thirty minutes later, Carnage was gone. Spider-Man pulled himself into a seated position and leaned against the wall he'd hit earlier. He wanted to remove his mask, but it was a safe bet that if Cletus Kasady had a symbiote, that meant an ineffective spider-sense. Spider-Man touched the wall. It felt sticky, and not because of his adhesive powers. He checked his hand; there was blood on it. Spider-Man was very sure that Carnage never lacerated him and stood up to get a look at the wall. The wall was covered with blood; Kasady's blood. Cletus Kasady really was a sick freak. Spider-Man backed away and to his unending horror, noticed the blood spelt out a disgusting message:

CARNAGE RULES!

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Author's note: I think it's safe to assume that the web head was very thoroughly thrashed. So, let me know you think, and please don't write stuff on the wall… with your blood. That would be extremely disturbing!


	10. Dark Savior

Disclaimer: I am so surprised by the reviews I've received so far. I mean surprised in a good way. Thanks.

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Chapter X  
Dark Savior

Ashley had a relatively rough time dealing with the massacre at Ravencroft. Actually, it wasn't the massacre that bothered her. It was having seen Venom face to face the night of the incident. It was Eddie Brock in the symbiote costume, of that much Ashley was sure. She felt like a total fool since then, even worse that Shriek was in intensive care. Ashley had been told that Shriek wasn't expected to recover any time soon. Worse still was that Cletus Kasady had escaped as well. Ashley knew not of Kasady's recent change into the creature known as Carnage. Eddie was Ashley's biggest concern at the moment as she strolled through the parking lot of her apartment. So concerned was she that didn't see the unscrupulous pair of muggers following behind her. Coming up to the stairwell, a third mugger confronted Ashley. The other muggers closed in behind her.

"Hey there, sweet thing," the lead mugger said, pulling out a pocket knife. "How's about you share some of your cash with us?"

Ashley looked around, knowing full well she was surrounded. "Is this really necessary?"

"Hey, in this day and age, you got to make a buck somehow." said another mugger.

"So, be a good girl and fork over the money," said the lead mugger. "Before we do something very bad."

Granted, Ashley could partially agree that times were tough nowadays. These guys could find other ways to make a profit. Like get a job! That was obviously the last thing on the minds of the crooks. One in particular seemed more interested in getting an eye full of Ashley's buttocks. Pervert! There didn't seem to be much that Ashley could do, so she slowly reached into her purse. Going on a sheer gamble, Ashley quickly pulled out a canister of pepper spray and unleashed the contents into the leader's face. One of the other crooks tried to grab Ashley and Ashley surprised him with a swift elbow to the stomach. She followed was an even swifter kick to the third crook's nether regions. Ashley made a break for her car but the muggers gave chase after her. Any chance Ashley had to escape when the lead mugger tackled her to the ground.

"Not very smart, lady."

The leader whipped out his pocket knife and prepared to make use of it. Ashley didn't know what to do at this point. Then the leader was suddenly pulled by an unseen force. The other muggers immediately assumed it was Spider-Man, though it was hard to tell due to the shadows. The lot was dark but it appeared as if the shadows were moving. Then the victimized lead mugger was sent flying into one of his cohorts. Ashley lay petrified on the ground while the one standing mugger backed away from the goings on. He was a foot away from a support pillar and didn't see the large black humanoid clinging to it. Then he turned and came face to face with Venom. The mugger never stood a chance as Venom grabbed his head and drove face first into the pillar. The other muggers tried to make a break for it, but Venom hopped over and landed right in front of them.

Hissing and with his snake like tongue lashing to and fro, Venom callously muttered, "Boo!"

One mugger tried to run as quickly as he could, but Venom snagged him with a black line and yanked him. One second later, the mugger took a full force forearm to the back of his head. The lead mugger, still with pocket knife in hand, stabbed Venom directly in the grayish white emblem. Venom snarled at the pitiful effort and grasped the crook's entire face. The villain hoisted his prey off the ground, at the same time halting the crook's ability to breathe. A few more seconds and it would be death by suffocation.

"Stop!" Ashley finally shouted.

Ashley's plea of mercy caught Venom's attention. How could she possibly be defending these lowlifes after they tried to rob her and God knows what else? Something in Venom told him to do the right thing. But what _was_ the right thing? If Venom let the mugger live, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't strike someone else. What did Venom care anyway? But then Ashley shook her head, clearly not wanting the man's death on her conscience. Venom glared at the hapless mugger and finally released the mugger, letting him collapse to the ground.

"She saved your life, punk," Venom snarled at the terrified crook. "Do it again, and we'll break you in half."

The crook was certain to take the warning to heart and bolted out the area. Venom seethed as Ashley, seemingly unafraid of the villain, slowly walked toward him. With only inches between them, Venom reared his massive head toward Ashley, giving Ashley an up close and personal view of the alien bug eyes. Venom felt tempted to grab the woman, and shake her relentlessly like a rag doll. Perhaps out of woman's intuition, Ashley knew that Venom wouldn't attack her. She was right! Venom snarled and sprinted away to the edge on the lot. Ashley's pleas fell on deaf ears and in a flash, Venom was out of site. Ashley gazed over the edge to find some sign of her dark savior but alas, she found none.

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Spider-Man didn't have a great night of sleep. Hell, a mere four hours of sleep hardly did anything for anyone. What could make matters worse? One word: Carnage! Venom was bad enough, but Carnage was at a level that even Spider-Man couldn't match. He was similar in many ways to his counterpart, but was all too different in other ways. The most intriguing, if not disturbing, difference was the personalities of the hosts. Venom always, or least recently, referred to himself in the plural sense. It was Eddie Brock _and_ the symbiote: two separate entities. Cletus Kasady on the other hand, referred to himself in the singular. How and why? The only logical hypothesis that Spider-Man could find was that symbiote somehow had merged with Kasady's blood. It was _all_ Kasady. It worried Spider-Man, knowing that Kasady was running around, indiscriminate of his victims.

Spider-Man heard a faint ringing sound in his mask. "Hello?"

"Peter, are you okay," asked Mary Jane from the other end. "Did you ever come home last night?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to wake you," Spider-Man said, moments before he was distracted by police sirens. "MJ, I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Wait a minute, Peter," MJ pleaded. "There's something you really need to know."

Spider-Man had a gut feeling he knew what was happening downtown. "I'm sorry, MJ. We'll talk later. I promise."

Spider-Man hung up before Mary Jane could say anything and started swinging after the police cruisers. Screw that gut feeling! Spider-Man knew right then and there that Carnage must've struck again. At the same time, Spider-Man was kind of hoping for Rhino or Shocker. Maybe even Sandman or, God forbid, Venom! Also at the same time, he wondered what Mary Jane had to tell him that put her on edge lately. Spider-Man was bound to find out eventually; provided he survived the forthcoming battle.

---------------------------------------------

Anarchy reigned supreme in downtown Manhattan. Squad cars, fire trucks and ambulances lined the streets, as did the mangled remains of citizens and cops alike. Any surviving cops were doing their best to deal with the situation. It was a losing battle against Carnage. Carnage was having the ultimate field day, slashing and slicing cops and pedestrians left and right. Needless to say, Jean DeWolff was losing officers fast. She had taken cover behind a cruiser along with Stan Carter and five other officers. Carnage was proving to be an extremely hard target to hit, as he willed his symbiote arms into a shield and deflected random gunfire. It irked Jean to no end, that her officers were barely making a dent in the villains' defenses.

"We're not getting anywhere with that thing," Jean shouted. "We need a little extra firepower."

"I've got a rocket launcher in the trunk of my cruiser." Stan said.

Jean looked at Stan as if his head expanded. "You scare me, Carter. You want to blow us along with that freak?"

"That freak isn't leaving us with a lot of options, captain," Stan retorted. "It's now or never."

Jean hated the thought of using a heavy weapon in a crowded street, but what other choice did she have? She nodded her reluctant approval and Stan rushed toward his cruiser for the heavy weapon. Jean and the rest of the officers did what they could to keep Carnage at bay until Stan returned with the rocket launcher. Stan aimed the weapon and took his shot. The projectile impacted Carnage in a cloud of fire and smoke and the NYPD ceased fire. Most of the officers believed the day won, but Jean wasn't as enthusiastic. Then a series of red and black tendril shot out from the smoke, taking out several officers until Carnage emerged unscathed.

"It ain't nice interrupting my snack time," Carnage said and hopped over the fire onto the car Jean and company hid behind. "Hey Jeanie; you miss me?" Carnage will both arms into axes and prepared his next attack.

Jean's eyes widen upon hearing the pronunciation of her name. "Jesus! Kasady, is that you?"

The symbiote maw stretched to reveal the face of Cletus Kasady. "You guessed," The maw shut over Kasady's face, replaced with a monster's face. "It's Carnage now, and I'm gonna make a meal out of you, Jeanie."

Out of nowhere, Spider-Man came kicking Carnage off the car and to the ground "I'm ready for that rematch, Carnage."

Carnage picked himself up from the ground. "That suits me just fine, man. I was getting bored with these play things anyway."

Spider-Man hopped off the car and charged right at the oncoming Carnage. Inches from each other, Spider-Man blinded Carnage with webbing and then literally slid underneath the villain. From behind, Spider-Man webbed Carnage's legs and tripped him up. Even blinded, Carnage almost immediately shot a tendril from his arm, missing Spider-Man by inches. Carnage yanked off the webbing from his bug eyes and actually ate it.

"Yum! Tasty!"

Spider-Man fired a series of web spheres, many of slamming into Carnage with intensity. Carnage responded with a series of blood darts, which Spider-Man avoided while staying airborne. At least the hero had much more room to maneuver than back at the orphanage, though that wouldn't stop Carnage from trying to take his head off. Spider-Man swung around and aimed both legs at Carnage, only for Carnage to snag him with a blood tendril. Carnage swung Spider-Man around much like he did last time and then tossed him through a second story window. Carnage hopped up and clung the wall just outside the shattered window, finding only a terrified mother and her child instead of Spider-Man. The monstrous villain let out an ear shattering roar and was met with a double kick to the face Spider-Man, who'd been hiding on the ceiling. Spider-Man and Carnage tussled as they fell two stories back to the ground, with Spider-Man taking the brunt of the fall. Carnage willed his right arm into a lance but Spider-Man kick flipped him away. Carnage landed hard but was upright just as quickly and shot more blood darts at Spider-Man. Spider-Man hopped over the darts and shot more web lines and Carnage answered by extending his fingers to an inhuman level. The finger spikes literally shredded through the web lines and continued for Spider-Man. Spider-Man leaped up onto the wall and dodged the finger spikes with some effort.

"This guy makes Freddie Kruger seem like a lightweight." the hero quipped rather unintentionally.

Carnage didn't seem to hear Spider-Man's little joke and just kept attack with his finger spikes. Spider-Man responded with an ongoing stream of web spheres. Carnage blocked the spheres with a symbiote fashioned shield and then fired back with a tendril. Spider-Man just barely avoided the tendril and leaped over Carnage, landing atop a streetlight. Spider-Man webbed up Carnage but Carnage simply ripped through the webbing and shot out two tendrils. The direct approach didn't seem to be working for the web slinger all that well, so he went to Plan B. Spider-Man landed atop the hood of a police cruiser and dared Carnage to come at him. Carnage was more than happy to oblige and leaped into the air and right at Spider-Man. At the last second, Spider-Man hopped out of the way and let Carnage cave in the hood of the car and set off the car horn. Knowing the symbiote was vulnerable to sound, Spider-Man expected Carnage to double over in agonizing pain. But to the web head's horror, Carnage was only barely phased by the shrill sound of the car horn. The noise did stun the villain but for only a moment, and not nearly as much as it would've affective Venom.

"Okay, that's not good." Spider-Man muttered to himself.

Carnage glared at Spider-Man, almost smiling an inhuman smile. "What did you expect to accomplish, man?"

Spider-Man was screwed. Was Carnage so different from Venom that sound had little, if not no effect whatsoever? Carnage went right back on his attack, shooting blood dart and tendrils at Spider-Man. Spider-Man needed a new plan as he tried to avoid every attack from Carnage. Carnage managed to snag Spider-Man leg and attempted to toss him. Spider-Man still managed to snag Carnage and pull up into the air with him. They fought and tumbled in the air for a few moments until Spider-Man kicked Carnage right down and straight toward the ground. Carnage landed in the fiery blaze left by Stan Carter's previous rocket attack. Spider-Man landed across from his and was astonished by the sight of Carnage flailing wildly in the flames, screaming in pain.

"There's something you don't see everyday." the web slinger quipped.

Carnage stopped flailing about rolled out of the fire to the ground, going motionless. Spider-Man was understandably wary, knowing his spider-sense was useless against the villain. It was probably against his better judgment, but Spider-Man had to know for sure if Carnage was defeated. Without warning, a bloody tendril emerged and tripped Spider-Man, causing him to face plant the ground. Carnage stood up with his tendril picking Spider-Man up by his one foot.

"That little bonfire was very unpleasant, Spider-Man," Carnage snarled, willing his fingers into spikes. "But that ain't nothing compared to what I'm gonna do to you."

Before Carnage could follow through with his next move, Jean DeWolff and the remaining officers opened fire on him. "You're not skewering him today, freak."

"Aw, you ruined my dinnertime, Jeanie," Carnage, glaring back at the defenseless Spider-Man. "You know what, Spider-Man; I think I'll save you later for dessert. Adios!"

With that, Carnage tossed Spider-Man right at the officers. Spider-Man crashed directly in front of Jean, who was at his side in a heartbeat. Carnage, in a manner mimicking Spider-Man, shot out a tendril and swung out of sight. Spider-Man was just at that moment regaining his composer, and too late to stop Carnage from escaping. Jean helped Spider-Man to his feet.

"You okay, Pe… Spider-Man?" Jean asked, stammering when she almost called the hero by his real name.

"I'll live, but at least... all the agonizing pain proves I'm still alive," Spider-Man unknowingly quipped, and then looked at Jean after realizing how dangerously close she was to blurting out his identity. "Did you just…?"

Jean knew where Spider-Man was about to go and cut him off. "Forget it. Our real issue is figuring out how we're going to stop that monster."

"Carnage is only one half of the whole problem," Spider-Man pointed out. "Venom's still out there and I have to find him."

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Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, Eddie Brock had been hiding in an alleyway and watching the entire event. It irked Eddie to see another symbiote running loose. For some strange, if not bizarre reason, Eddie felt almost compelled to aid Spider-Man. Why should he have? Spider-Man deserved to get his ass handed to him. At least that's what Eddie told himself. What about when he saved Ashley from those muggers the night before? Why? What compelled Eddie, as Venom, to actually help someone? As he contemplated the notion, Eddie heard a scream from the other end of the alley. Eddie rushed to other end and spotted a baby carriage rolling into traffic, along with the frantic mother going hysterical. What did Eddie care?

"My baby," the hysterical mother shouted. "Someone save my baby."

An oncoming tractor trailer was already barreling down the road and right toward the baby carriage. The baby inside the carriage was absolutely oblivious to its surrounding. Any onlookers present had to restrain the mother. Seconds later, the giant tractor trailer plowed right into the carriage, obliterating it. The mother sank to her knees in total horror in the belief that her child was lost. Her horror turned to astonishment upon hearing the sound of a baby's laughter. She and the other pedestrians turned to find the baby alive and well in some kind of black safety net.

"Jason, Jason, you're okay." the mother called out the baby's name and took him from the net.

The baby wasn't even crying, though the mother was. She stared at the net and then looked up toward the sky. Was it Spider-Man that saved little Jason? The safety net would've suggested as such, but why was it black? Clinging to the wall out of the sight of the onlookers, Venom glared down to the people without their knowing. The symbiote mask receded so Eddie's face was visible, and Eddie was visibly shocked by his actions.

"What the hell did we just do," he asked, and was then compelled to ask the same question. "What the hell did _I _just do?"

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Author's note: A very interesting turn of events, wouldn't you agree? Tell me what you guys think of all the happenings and I shall return.


	11. Dangerous Minds

Disclaimer: I'm still astonished by the amount of reviews I've received throughout the trio of Spider-Man stories. Whoa, I check my ego at the door. I mean, I'm not _that _good. Am I? Nah!

For the record, I still do not, by God in Heaven, own Spider-Man. I'm gonna shut up now and let you enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter XI  
Dangerous Minds

It was a great relief for Mary Jane to have Liz stop by to keep her company at home. Aunt May stop by as well to offer advice. Granted, May never had children of her own, but she and Ben Parker had raised Peter like he was their own child. Mary Jane was sure to learn much. Liz, on the other hand, had been thrown off by the fact that Mary Jane was so far unable to break the news to Peter.

"I still can't believe you haven't told Peter." Liz said.

"It's not like I haven't been trying, Liz," MJ said in her own defense. "Peter's just been unusually busy, even for him."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Oh please, what could be more important that telling your husband about something like this," Liz stood up and, in her very best Mary Jane impression, said, _"Hey guess what, Peter, I'm pregnant," _Liz sat back down. "See, it can't be _that_ hard."

"Oh yeah, Liz," Mary Jane said in sarcasm. "You make it sound so easy. I'd like to see you tell that to Flash when you get pregnant."

"Are you kidding," a flabbergasted Liz shouted. "Flash and I aren't even one month into our own marriage."

"All the same, I'd like to see the look on Flash's face when it happens." MJ retorted.

Aunt May chuckled at the bickering between the girls. "Liz, I'm very sure that Mary Jane will tell Peter eventually."

"Of course he's going to find out sooner or later when MJ gets a little, you know," Liz said and at the same, patted her stomach, "Worst case scenario, Peter might just jump out the window."

"You have no idea," MJ chuckled at that little unintended in-joke before a knock sounded from the door. "I'm going to tell Peter at some point before he finds out the hard way. At least things can't get any worse."

MJ stopped at the door and prepared to open when she stalled for a few moments. She thought about the last time she answered the door and remembered having Eddie Brock's hand around her throat. Then, she thought about Peter and his overall reaction to the eventual news of her pregnancy. Which was the worst of the two? MJ opened the door finally and the blood drained from her face upon seeing Eddie Brock standing right front of her.

"Where's Parker?" he said.

It was all Mary Jane could do to keep from screaming. "He's not here, now go away." Mary Jane went to close the door but Eddie stopped it halfway.

"I'm not leaving until I find Parker." Eddie said.

Mary Jane actually did know where Peter was at the moment, but there was no way on Earth that she'd tell Eddie Brock. Wait a minute! There was something very different about Eddie. He seemed much more focused and determined, not his usual sadistic demeanor. He wasn't attempting to suffocate Mary Jane like last time, and he wasn't grasping her throat. Maybe it was woman's intuition, but Mary Jane sensed that this wasn't the _same_ Eddie Brock. It was at that point that aunt May came up to the door behind Mary Jane.

"Oh, hello Edward, how are you?" she said.

Eddie switched gears and produced a feigning smile. "Hello, May. I was actually looking for Peter. I don't suppose you know where I can find him."

"Well, I believe Peter is at the J3 Studio building." May answered.

Mary Jane shut her eyes in disbelief. _Thanks a lot, May!_

"Really? Thanks May," Eddie nodded. "I appreciate the assist. I better be on my way. I'd hate to keep Pete waiting."

Eddie left the apartment as quickly as he arrived. Aunt May returned into the apartment but Mary Jane followed Eddie. Eddie knew full well that Mary Jane was following him, so he led her outside the building. Mary Jane should've been very cautious. In fact, she was better served not go any further. But to her credit, Mary Jane went outside. That was where Eddie was waiting when MJ appear, but he didn't attack. He could have, but simply did not attack.

"It isn't very nice to be stalking people." Eddie said.

"You're one to talk, after you spent last Christmas making our lives miserable," Mary Jane in total defiance. "Why are you doing this to us, Brock?"

"Hey, I have nothing against you," Eddie said, almost sincere in a disturbing way. "It's your superhero husband I'm after. Listen, you're a smart girl, and beautiful too," Eddie started backing away. "It'd be in your best interest to stay out of my way. It'd be a real shame if something happened to that baby."

_Cripes, _MJ thought. Eddie knew about the baby. In sheer defiance, MJ stated, "Peter's beaten you before, Eddie, and he will do it again."

Mary Jane got her word out and started back into the apartment building, leaving Eddie alone in the cold. He brought his left hand to his face and examined it. The alien symbiote began to slowly but surely envelop Eddie's hand. Eddie shivered, not out of the feeling of cold air, but out of resentment for Peter Parker.

Balling his symbiote hand into a fist, Eddie mused, "We'll see about that."

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An evening jog through Prospect Park was just the thing that Heath Foster needed. At fifty-six years old, a senior citizen like him would no doubt benefit from it. Some of the people who lived in Heath's apartment questioned the reasoning for an evening jog. Heath came to a sudden stop when he heard moaning in the bushes. His initial impulse was that it was a young couple doing the deed, but then realized it sounded like a single person. Heath should've been smart enough to drop the issue, but curiosity reared its ugly head. He poked his head around to the other side of the bushes and found a man in a seated fetal position.

"Hey, you feeling okay down there, son?"

The man seemed to be shaking, and he didn't seem to hear the old man. Heath reached over a placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Then Heath was caught off guard by a blood red and black tendril. The man, revealed to be Cletus Kasady, had Heath by the throat as the symbiote enveloped his body. Heath was horrified at the sight of Carnage grinning at him and was lifted by his throat off the ground. Carnage went into a psychopathic cackling, before throwing the old man to the ground. No one person could hear the old man's screams for help as Carnage proceeded to rip him apart, piece by piece. Carnage finished as quickly as he'd begun and stood over the mutilated remains of his latest victim.

Feeling the need to answer the old man's previous question, Carnage, with a grin, said, "Never better!"

------------------------------------------

"This is all Spider-Man's fault. Every single bit of chaos in this city is because of him."

J. Jonah Jameson was on one of his usual tirades at the J3 Communications Building. And as usual, he target was Spider-Man. Ashley Kafka wondered how any Bugle working under that man could stand his boasts. She wasn't the only one wondering. Jean DeWolff was there to get a statement from Jonah. A statement that translated into a tirade. She wondered how Spider-Man, AKA Peter Parker, could stand it at all.

"So, I'm guessing that's your overall statement, huh, Jameson?"

"I'm happy to throw in an opinion or two, especially about the incompetence of the police," Jameson snapped. "The fact is none of these so called super villains existed until the so called super hero showed up. Now, we've got two more freaks running around who can do exactly the same things Spider-Man can do."

"Mr. Jameson, you tend to address many of these individuals as freaks," Ashley stated. "This would include the likes of the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus and Scorpion. But the fact that these may simply be human beings with some form of illness cannot be ignored."

"Illness," Jameson balked. "Don't sugarcoat it, Dr. Kafka. You make it sound as if they all have swine flu."

In the background, Peter was busy adjusting his camera while listening in on the conversation. For once, he had to agree with Jonah, which shocked him more than, well, Shocker. If only all the villains he'd battled were suffering from some sort of illness. Then again, the Green Goblin was insane and Doc Ock was delusional. Did they qualify? On the other hand, villains like Sandman, Shocker, and even the Hobgoblin were all motivated by personal means. So where did that leave Venom or Carnage? Peter pondered the question, so he didn't notice Ben Reilly coming up to him.

"Hey, Mr. Parker, you mind if I ask you question?"

"Oh, not at all," Peter said in the affirmative. "You can call me Peter, by the way."

Ben chuckled. "Right, sorry about that. You knew Eddie Brock at one point, right? What did he do to get fired from the Bugle?"

That was a question Peter knew the answer to all too well. "Well, Eddie kind of tried to sell a faked photograph of Spider-Man robbing a bank. I happen to notice the forgery and Eddie's held a grudge ever since."

"Wow, he must've been a helluva bad guy." Ben commented.

Peter looked at Ben and cocked eyebrow. "You have no idea."

"Confound it, DeWolff," Jonah bellowed, which obviously brought Peter and Ben back to reality. "Stop writing on you notepad and do something about those monsters."

"Oh sure, whatever you say, Jameson," Jean mockingly said. "I'll get on the horn and call up a group of mutants. Will _that_ make you happy?"

"Don't get snippy with me, DeWolff," Jameson snapped. "I can have your job, you know."

"I'd like to see you try." Jean snapped back.

The banter between Jean and Jonah came to a sudden and violent end when the ceiling suddenly caved in. The impact threw pretty much everyone in the studio to the floor. Peter realized his spider-sense didn't go off, and that meant only one thing. Like an immense black cloud, Venom dropped into the studio with his tongue lashing to and fro. Jean instinctively pulled out her side arm and aimed, but Venom quickly snagged it with a line and pulled hard. The momentum actually sent Jean the floor, and the gun right into Venom's hand. Venom effortlessly crushed the gun before turning his attention to Peter. Peter tried to escape but he became embedded to the wall by some black lines. Then Venom grabbed Jonah by his throat and held him high.

"You remember us, don't you?" the alien villain snarled.

Jonah struggled to catch his breath. "Br… Brock, you don't… have to do this. I'm… sorry, I swear."

Shut your mouth," Venom bellowed. "We don't want your feeble apologies. All we _do _want is to rip your head off. After all, we are just like you said: _monsters._"

"Eddie, stop!" sounded the unexpected voice Ashley Kafka.

Venom snarled and hissed at the woman that was now actually standing up to him. The nerve of that little harlot! Venom wanted to throw Jonah to the floor, hard, and then pounce on Ashley. So why didn't he? If nothing else, Ashley's distraction bought Peter some time to get free and disappear. Meanwhile, Ashley was actually taking a few slow steps toward Venom. Very gutsy of her! Jonah was still flailing around in Venom's grip.

"Get away, Dr. Kafka," he wheezed. "He's dangerous."

"You should listen to him, doctor." Venom said.

Ashley didn't heed the warning and kept walking up to Venom. "You won't kill me."

"Oh yeah, and how do you know that?" Venom snarled.

"Because you're not a monster, Eddie," Ashley said. "It's not in you to kill anyone, so I know you won't kill Mr. Jameson or me."

"Oh, you don't know shi…" Venom was cut of by a glob of webbing to his maw.

"Now, now, let's watch the language. We've got children and old folks present."

Venom threw Jonah down and tore the webbing off, before glaring at the undamaged part of the ceiling. Sure enough, there was Spider-Man. "You!"

Venom shot a black line directly at Spider-Man and the hero very quickly dodged. Spider-Man landed on the floor and shot web lines at Venom's arms, but Venom ripped right through them and charge. Venom picked up a teleprompter and hurled it at Spider-Man, who again dodged out of the way. The teleprompter hit the floor with a very unsettling crash and exploded in a shower of sparks, much to Jameson's chagrin. Spider-Man attempted a quick swinging kick but Venom caught and heaved him over a news desk. Venom pounced and took two feet to his maw, followed by a sudden flurry of punches from Spider-Man. The rivals traded blows back and forth until Venom won out and again tossed Spider-Man across the room. This time, Spider-Man was prepared. He shot a web line to the ceiling, swung around and scored a direct hit to Venom's chest. Venom recovered and shot black tendrils, which Spider-Man avoided. The tendrils were actually aimed for an overhanging light fixture and they pulled it loose, the fixture careening toward Jean and Ben. Spider-Man acted quickly and saved the two from being crushed, but he didn't have nearly enough time to avoid another assault from Venom. Another black tendril caught Spider-Man and sent him hard to the floor, after which Venom stood over the fallen hero.

"You made this a bit too easy, Spider-Man," Venom snarled, rearing his arms back for the killing blow. "Oh well, at least you're death will be very slow and painful."

Out of nowhere, Ashley suddenly shouted, "No, Eddie! Don't do it!"

"Stay out of this, woman!" Venom shouted back.

"It's the alien, Eddie. It's making you do these things," Ashley said, trying to reach Eddie inside the symbiote. "You said yourself that you're not a bad person, and I honestly believe that."

Venom had no intention of listening to Ashley and prepared to crush Spider-Man once and for all. Or was he? Why was he hesitating to follow through? This was the moment Venom had been waiting for since the day Peter Parker ruined his life. Venom seethed, even shaking upon realizing that he was actually stalling. Spider-Man began to show signs of life and Venom finally kicked Spider-Man across the floor into a wall. Venom sank to his knees and the symbiote receded, rendering Eddie's face visible. Ashley took the ultimate gamble and very slowly approached Eddie.

"You see, Eddie," she whispered. "You're stronger the alien. You can fight it."

"You shouldn't be anywhere near us, Ashley," Eddie said in exhaustion. "We're… I'm a monster. I can't be trusted."

"Eddie, you have to fight the alien," Ashley urged. "Don't let it win."

Eddie hung his head in pain, balled his hand into fist and breathed heavily. Then the symbiote enveloped his face and he snarled, "SHUT UP!"

Venom quickly took hold of Ashley and shot a line straight up to the ceiling. Spider-Man recovered just in time to see Venom disappear through the hole he'd made earlier. He was ultimately too late to stop his rival. Jean helped Spider-Man to his vertical base. Jonah on the other hand was outright mortified at the damage down by Venom. Until he turned toward Spider-Man!

"Look at this mess," he bellowed. "You have any idea how much this equipment cost?" Then Jonah had his mouth shut with a glob of webbing.

"I know it ain't coming out of my allowance." Spider-Man quipped before leaping through the same hole.

------------------------------------------------

Spider-Man reached the roof but was obviously too late. Venom was already gone, along with Ashley Kafka. The hero checked over the edge of the building and looked down on the busy streets below. Spider-Man hopped onto the ledge and went into thought about what had happened the last several minutes ago. Venom had him dead to rights, but he hesitated. It was certainly a far cry from the last time the rivals fought, as Venom wouldn't have thought twice about squashing Spider-Man. What changed? As smart as he was, Spider-Man was only getting more questions than answers. The eventual answer likely wouldn't be very encouraging in the long run.

* * *

Author's note: Not quite as much knock down drag 'em out action as the last couple of chapters, since I'm trying to better explain what's happening with Eddie at this point. Anyways, tell what you guys think and I'll see you soon.


	12. Turning Point

Disclaimer: I'm a little bit busier than normal these days, what with a couple others projects being written up and all. But we'll jump off, oops, I mean cross those bridge when we get to 'em. Kay?

As always, I don't own the rights to Spider-Man, for he is the property of Marvel Comics, which for some reason is owned by Disney. BLASPHEMY, I TELL YOU!

* * *

Chapter XII  
Turning Point

Ashley stirred herself awake from an all around restless slumber. She couldn't remember much of anything from the last twelve hours. At least not at first! Then she recalled encountering Venom and her subsequent attempts to reach out to Eddie Brock. Ultimately, Venom, or just the alien symbiote rather, won out and abducted Ashley. Ashley must've blacked out after the kidnapping, and that was why she remembered nothing else since then. Ashley rubbed her eyes and then realized that she inside her apartment. Did Venom actually bring her back home? Did Ashley succeed in reaching Eddie? Too many questions! Too few answers!

"How on Earth did I get home?" Ashley wondered to herself. Ashley looked out the opened window, and she didn't notice the shadow moving around in her bedroom.

"Ashley!" the shadows spoke out; and Ashley turned around startled.

"Eddie?"

Eddie did indeed step out from the shadow, in the alien costume minus the mask. "We… I brought you back here."

"I don't understand," Ashley said. "Why would you bring me back home like this?"

Eddie sat down on the bed; not that asking for permission would go much anyway. "I honestly don't even know anymore. All I don't is that you were right about _the other_."

"The other," Ashley asked, confused. "You mean the alien."

"The symbiote, I could feel it tearing my mind apart when I spared Spider-Man," Eddie said, his head hanging in self disgrace. "Even worse than that, now the symbiote sees you as a threat. It wants me to hurt you, but I can't do that."

Ashley seemed to now have a better understanding of what Eddie was going through. Basically, Eddie despised Spider-Man for ruining his career. The symbiote despised Spider-Man for rejecting it. Eddie and the symbiote came together with the common goal of eradicating a shared enemy. Then Ashley entered the picture, and Eddie was now in conflict with the symbiote. In essence, Eddie was in conflict with himself. His dark side, more or less! But why Ashley?

"There's no way I could come close to understanding how much you're suffering, Eddie," she said. "It must be so torturous for you."

"I can take it, Ashley," Eddie assured Ashley as he stood from the bed. "I can take the torture for your sake."

"My sake," Ashley wondered. "I sense it goes much deeper than that. Is _that _why you couldn't bring yourself to ever hurt me?"

Eddie pretty much dug up his own grave by that point, resting his symbiote covered hand on the wall. "Yeah! There's just no possible way that you could ever…" Eddie stalled himself. "…Ever love a monster like me."

That was why Eddie couldn't hurt Ashley, no matter how much the symbiote compelled him to do so. "I could love the man, Eddie. You could live a normal life again, but we have to get rid of the alien before it's too late."

Eddie would've likely agreed with Ashley, but the symbiote didn't see it that way. The alien engulfed Eddie's face and roared an inhuman sound. Then he lunged at Ashley and pinned her to the wall. Venom hissed at Ashley's frightened face and seemed to want to rip her head off, but he just froze. Ashley sensed that it was Eddie fighting the symbiote for control and Venom dropped Ashley to the floor. Venom sank to his knee holding his head in pain, and then the symbiote receded from Eddie's face.

"The alien's too strong," Eddie struggled to say, still holding his head. "I can't fight it off forever."

Ashley knelt down in front of Eddie and put her hands on his shoulder. "Yes you can, Eddie. You're stronger than the alien. You can still win."

Eddie was practically trembling as he seemed to be fighting the symbiote for control. "I'm… I'm sorry, Ashley. I so sorry."

Eddie jumped out the window, not even bothering to heed Ashley's pleas. Ashley rushed to the window just in time to see Eddie disappear into the city. Ashley leaned against the window frame, distressed that she was again unable to help Eddie. He needed help obviously. But as far Ashley was concerned, Eddie needed more than help. Ashley had to admit to herself that Eddie needed her. Point blank and period.

-----------------------------------------------

Venom's trailed had once again gone cold, and it left Spider-Man feeling very uneasy. Add to the fact that Carnage was still on the loose, and Spider-Man was liable to be pushed over the edge. Truth be told, the web slinger would've much rather been playing Hide n' Seek with Black Cat. Or the Hobgoblin! Or any whack-a-do for that matter! By sheer twist of fate, Spider-Man found himself passing by the apartment home of Jean DeWolff. He felt somewhat compelled to check up on her. It wasn't out of some fantasy, but there were reasons. For one, Jean was Spider-Man's friend and one of his strongest supporters, next to Mary Jane. The second reason was that Jean knew Spider-Man's secret identity. Spider-Man sometimes wondered if Jean actually cared for him more than she'd ever admit. No way!

_C'mon, Parker, _he thought._ You're not seriously thinking that Jean might be into you? Then again, that lady's been… _he stopped himself and shook his head. _Whoa, whoa, Parker! You're a married man. You don't get to think of Jean like that. You had enough of the same problem with Black Cat!_

Spider-Man decided to finally head home and talk to Mary Jane. She had been strangely agitated as of late, as if she was in labor. That was a scary thought. If he only knew that the truth was closer to home than he knew.

---------------------------------------------

Jean had been in the shower for the past fifteen minutes or so, so she was generally unaware of Spider-Man's recent fly by of her home. The showerhead pelted her face with a steady stream of water. Jean kept her eyes closed and wiped her face at regular intervals and then lower her head. She opened her eyes, leaned against the wall with both hand and went into thought. What was she thinking about? Jean exhaled and shut off the showered, and then grabbed a towel and wrapped around her naked form. She stepped out of the tub and into the bathroom, standing in front of a mirror. Jean wiped the condensation from the mirror, taking a long look at herself. Jean was actually very attractive for a woman who was usually fully clothed and who smoked often.

Jean looked herself over in the mirror and sighed to herself, "What the hell are you thinking, DeWolff? There's no way he'd be interested in a bitch like you."

Jean shook her head at the thought of Spider-Man, or Peter for that matter, having any kind of interest in her. That obviously didn't shake off the fact that Jean had become very interested in Peter, and more than she'd let on. Jean threw on a blue bathrobe and step out of the bathroom into her apartment. She was still thinking about Spider-Man. In _that_ way! She'd never, in her wildest dreams, thought she actually develop certain _feelings_ for a guy in a mask. It actually made her feel _tingly_. Jean entered her bedroom and threw on a button downed t-shirt and pajamas, leaving her hair loose. She noticed that it was cold in the apartment. Strange! Jean didn't remember leaving her apartment window open. A new thought crossed her mind; she wasn't alone. Jean picked up her gun and quietly moved through her apartment. Something was definitely amiss. Jean moved to the open window and looked out into the city. She closed the window before turning back toward her home. That was when Jean was caught by her throat and thrown to the floor with a thud. Cletus Kasady hovered over Jean, still clutching her throat all while pinning her down.

"Hey, Jeanie, how ya been," he sneered. "Ya miss me?"

"Like a hole in the head, Kasady!" Jean wheezed, and she tried reaching for her gun.

Cletus noticed and he pushed the gun aside, and then he moved his face closer to Jean's. "You know, Jeanie, I always enjoy that feistiness of yours," Cletus began slowly undoing the buttons of Jean's shirt. "It seriously turns me on."

"Screw you!" Jean coughed.

Cletus was practically licking his chops. "Funny; that's what I had planned for you."

Suddenly, Spider-Man came crashing through the window, dropkicking Kasady off of Jean. "You're not touching her, Kasady."

"What makes you think," Cletus stood up and the symbiote took over his body. "You can stop me?"

Carnage quickly and violently tackled Spider-Man to the floor, knocking the wind out of Spider-Man early. Spider-Man kicked Carnage off before Carnage could drive a symbiote styled axe into his skull. Carnage snagged the web slinger with a tendril and threw him back and forth between the walls. Jean was very quick to reach her phone and dial up the police station number.

"This as Capt. DeWolff; I need immediate back up at my place on 412 Main Street Apartments."

The phone was suddenly shattered by Carnage. "So much for homely hospitality!"

Carnage went to throw Spider-Man right out the broken window and Spider-Man did go, but he snagged Carnage with two web lines and took the villain with him. Spider-Man and Carnage met outside the apartment walls and went back to slugging it out. Carnage shot off a series of blood darts which Spider-Man managed to avoid. Spider-Man retaliated with a series of web spheres, all of which wrapped up Carnage on impact. Spider-Man really needed to come up with a name for that attack. Carnage tore right through webbing and started slashing at Spider-Man with symbiote axes and lances and everything in between. Spider-Man dodged the attacks while remaining fixed on the wall and shot web lines at Carnage. Carnage willed a shield into existence and blocked the webs, but he was ill prepared to take a dropkick to his jaw. Carnage was rattled but he didn't go down, and he willed his finger into spikes. He shot the spikes out at Spider-Man, who just barely avoided being skewered and then blinded Carnage with webbing.

"C'mon, Carnage," Spider-Man shouted. "Catch me if you can."

Carnage ripped the webbing from his bug eyes and shouted back, "Think you can run from me? Think again," In a flash, Carnage climbed up the wall after Spider-Man. By the time Carnage reached, it came as a surprise that Spider-Man was nowhere in sight. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

"Surprise!" Out of nowhere, Spider-Man tackled Carnage to the ground and began wailing on him.

Carnage kicked Spider-Man off of him and went on the attack with symbiote blades extended. Spider-Man knew he couldn't rely on his spider-sense, so every dodging maneuver he could perform was dependant on sheer luck. Carnage dropped the direct assault and launched blood darts at his foe, which Spider-Man managed to dodge. Spider-Man returned fire with an onslaught of web spheres. Some of the spheres scored direct hits on Carnage. Others were blocked when Carnage willed his arms into a shield. Spider-Man used the momentary distractions to his advantage, leaping over Carnage without him noticing. From above, Spider-Man unleashed a net of webbing that tied up Carnage before landing behind him. Carnage was able to rip right through the net and snagged the web slinger's ankle via blood tendril. Spider-Man was tripped up and hit his head hard on the ground, after which Carnage whipped him around. Spider-Man was about half conscious when Carnage hurled him into an overhanging billboard. Carnage then shot blood darts at the supports, and the billboard pinned Spider-Man down to the ground. Spider-Man really had no idea where he was after that blow to his head earlier. Carnage leapt into view and lifted the fallen billboard before grabbing the delirious Spider-Man.

"After I get done shredding you to pieces," Carnage snarled to Spider-Man, who was way out of it. "I'm gonna paint this town red with your blood. And mine!"

Carnage willed his right arm into a scythe and reared back for the killing blow. Spider-Man couldn't defend himself. He didn't even know his own whereabouts. Carnage's maw grew into an inhuman grin at how easy it would be to kill Spider-Man. He never got a chance to follow through. Carnage was unexpectedly under fire from Jean, who had rushed all the way from her apartment to the roof. Jean fired her gun at Carnage with a relentlessness that even Carnage didn't expect. Carnage was driven back as he took bullet after bullet until he fell over the edge of the roof. Jean quickly rushed to Spider-Man's aide. She could easily tell that Spider-Man out of it. He likely had a mild concussion.

"C'mon, Parker," Jean begged. "Snap out of it."

Spider-Man was only vaguely aware of Jean's presence. "Jean, get out of here."

"The hell with that. I'm not leaving you here to die, Parker." Jean said.

Jean tried to help Spider-Man to a vertical base. Without warning, Carnage appeared and went airborne, readying an arm blade. There wasn't nearly enough time for the duo to move. So, Jean did the only thing she could do. Beforehand, Jean whispered something to Spider-Man.

She told him, "I'm sorry. I love you."

Jean shoved Spider-Man out of the way as hard as she could manage. Carnage landed directly in front of Jean. There followed a sickening sound and Jean's eyes widened in shock. She could feel the blade digging into her stomach. Carnage leaned in and the symbiote receded, allowing Cletus to hiss into Jean's ear. Then he pulled the blade loose and Jean slumped to the ground, going limp. A protesting Spider-Man reached his hand out, not to Carnage but to Jean. Jean's eyes remained open even as she slipped away. Carnage broke into a twisted cackling before slipping away into the city. Spider-Man moved toward Jean and tried to shake her back into consciousness, but it was already too late. Making matters worse, the NYPD could be heard down on the streets. Spider-Man didn't have any choice. Gently shutting Jean's eyes, he was forced to swing out of sight just as the police arrived on the roof led by Stan Carter. Stan rushed to Jean and checked her for a pulse. There was nothing.

--------------------------------------------------

Still mildly concussed, Spider-Man came to rest on a gargoyle statue. He looked back. He could still hear the sirens even from a distance. Spider-Man ripped his mask off, and tears were welling in his eyes. He'd failed again. Another friend, another loved one had been lost. Peter held one hand to his eyes, while the other held his mask. His breathing became heavy. He was about to breakdown. Finally, Peter snapped. He let out an agonizing scream into the air, one that could be heard far across the city. Ironically, no one acknowledged the sound except for a single person. That person was Eddie Brock who, like Peter, was situated atop one of the stone gargoyles of the Chrysler building. Whether or not he cared, it seemed to Eddie that his arch nemesis may have finally reached his breaking point.

* * *

Author's note: Another chapter complete, and Jean is lost. What a tragic loss! Note the chapter title pays homage to the Spider-Man: TAS episode of the same name. Good stuff! Feel free to comment.


	13. Vendetta

Disclaimer: Sorry, I kind of ran out of clever things to say order to make you want to laugh. (Assuming you do laugh!) Anyway, I don't own the rights to Spider-Man.

* * *

Chapter XIII  
Vendetta

NYPD cruisers lined the streets outside of Jean's apartment. Jean was obviously not present, nor was she fortunate. Her body was being loaded into an ambulance, all the while being looked on by Stan Carter. Stan hung his head in sorrow, but he kept himself from crying. Jean wouldn't have wanted to see him cry. Then he started trembling, lightly at first and then more with each passing second. Stan's sadness gave way to anger, and then to full blown hatred. That hatred was directed at Carnage; at Venom; at Spider-Man. Especially Spider-Man. He should've saved Jean. He should've protected her. Hell, he should've killed Kasady when he had the chance. Then Stan spotted Ben Reilly trying to get some photos of the scene. Stan flew into a rage, stormed his way to Ben and knocked the camera out of his hands. The camera hit the ground and exploded into fragments.

"Hey, what the hell are doing?" Ben demanded.

Stan grabbed Ben by his shirt collar and slammed over the hood of a police cruiser. "Figures, that old scum bag would want pictures of this," Stan shouted. "You tell me, kid; is he happy now?"

"C'mon, Carter," Ben pleaded, trying to get free of the enraged Stan Carter. "I'm just doing my job."

"Yeah, Jean was just doing her job, too, and she paid for it with her life." Stan spat.

"Look, I'm sorry about the captain, okay," Ben said. "I know she was you friend and all…"

"Shut the hell up," Stan spat before finally releasing his grip on Ben. "You have no idea what it's like to lose a friend."

Stan backed away from Ben and stormed to one of the cruiser. Without a second thought, Stan gunned the engine and sped away. Ben dusted himself off after being manhandled. For God's sake, he was just doing his job. Obviously, Stan was taking Jean's death really hard. It made Ben wonder how close Stan really was to Jean. Now, things had become extremely personal.

* * *

Peter was a despondent mess. He sat alone in the living room of his apartment having not removed his costume since he returned, save for his mask. He'd lost another friend. Jean was dead, and Peter couldn't save her. He should've been able to save her. The thing that hurt the most was that, ironically, Jean gave her life to save him. Peter couldn't shake the last thing Jean said to him. It made her death all the more painful. Hell, it felt like Harry all over again. Mary Jane entered the room very quietly. She didn't need a spider-sense to know that her husband was lost in his own world. Peter didn't need to look up to know of Mary Jane's presence.

"I should've saved her." Peter said.

MJ sighed. "Peter, there wasn't anything you could've done."

"There's plenty I could've done," Peter mused. "It's my fault Jean's dead."

Peter hung his head and went silent. Mary Jane really had absolutely no idea what she could say to comfort him. Peter stared almost blankly at his mask. He thought about the people that died whenever he tried to do the right thing. He wondered how many more would have to suffer. Peter shut his eyes and then began to tremble. It wasn't out of sorrow. It was out of anger. Mary Jane noticed this sudden change in Peter's face, his increased heavy breathing. He looked ready to erupt like an active volcano.

"No," Peter muttered. "Kasady's responsible, and I'm going to put an end to it. I'm going to kill him."

Mary Jane looked at Peter and asked, "What did you say?" She clearly couldn't believe what she heard.

"I'm sick and tired of losing everyone I care about," Peter said. "I'm going to find Kasady and I'm going to kill him. Then I'm going after Brock."

"Are you serious, Peter," Mary Jane snapped. "For God's sake, you sound like Brock."

"What're you talking about," Peter said, literally jumping out of his seat. "I'm nothing like Brock."

"Really?! You could've fooled me," Mary Jane wondered. "You know, Peter, when you go out there to fight these guys, I don't _just_ worry about whether or not you come back. I worry that at some point, you'll wind up just like Kasady. If you kill him, what then? Would you go out and find the next Kasady, and the next one and so one? That's something I just couldn't endure; I could never be able to see you wind up like…. like Harry."

Now Peter felt like a Grade-A idiot. Mary Jane was obviously dead on. Peter really was starting to act like Brock, and he too blinded by his own grief to think straight. Jean knew the risk when she sacrificed herself to save Peter. Peter, like a moron, was taking it personally. What about Harry? They both what happened to him and how he died. Was Peter destined to go down the same road as his friend? One thing was certain through the turmoil; Uncle Ben would've disapproved.

"You're right," Peter finally said. "I'm sorry, MJ. I wasn't thinking."

MJ walked to Peter until they were face to face. "I know, and I didn't mean any of what I said. I just don't want to lose you the same way we lost Harry, or worse."

"Yeah, but at least Harry redeemed himself in the end." Peter said.

"As have you!" a voice said, kindly and familiar.

Peter turned toward the voice and his eyes widen when he saw aunt May standing there. "Aunt May," Peter looked over himself and said. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Peter, it's okay," MJ said, and she lowered her head and said. "I told her everything. I'm sorry."

Peter was speechless, and he turned to his aunt, defeated. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, aunt May. I couldn't risk your safety, not after what happened with the Hobgoblin."

Aunt May approached Peter and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for, Peter. To be honest, a part of me knew all along."

Peter was pretty choked up by that point. "You guys are the best, but I still have to stop that man. I just can't do it alone. I need help, and there's only one person I can turn to."

Mary Jane knew exactly who Peter was talking about, but aunt May said, "You have to do what you feel is right, Peter. While I don't quite approve of this, I can honestly say that I've never been more proud of you," Aunt May placed her hand on Peter's face and told him, "Go get 'em, tiger."

Peter smiled and headed for the window, slipping his mask on. By all accounts, he never in his wildest dreams, expected aunt May to discover his secret. But at least he had no need now to hide it. He looked back at his family, and in the back of his mind, wondered if it would be the last time he'd ever see them. Mary Jane seemed to sense it and she suddenly stepped toward Peter, taking hold of his arm. It brought Peter to sudden stop. In a flash, Mary Jane embraced Peter. There was a reason for it, and if it was going to be the last time she'd ever see him, Mary Jane decided the time was here and now.

"You'd better come to me, Peter," Mary Jane whispered, as tears were beginning to stream down her face. "You _have_ to come back… because you're going to be a father."

A father? It clearly was something Peter never came close to expecting. What should've been enough cause for apprehension became motivation for Peter. Now he had the best damn reason in the history of best damn reasons to come back alive. Ultimately, Peter said nothing, but he a wave of emotions on the inside. He kissed Mary Jane's forehead through his mask. Then he shot out a web line and leapt out of sight. Mary Jane sighed and leaned against the windowsill, with aunt May at her side.

* * *

It accord to Ashley how bleakly ironic it was for her to be back at Ravencroft. It was the place where her entire world turned upside down when she encountered Venom. It shocked her even more when it turned out to be Eddie Brock. Even more shocking was that Eddie seemed to genuinely care for her. Ashley was beginning to feel the same way about Eddie. It pained Ashley greatly to have seen Eddie suffering against the symbiote corrupting him. Compelling him to kill her. But Eddie was fighting the alien; of that much Ashley was sure. It pained her to know how utterly helpless she was to help him. Ashley moved to the window of her office, wondering where Eddie might be.

_Where are you, Eddie?_ she thought. Suddenly, a blood red and black hand grasped Ashley's mouth.

Carnage appeared outside the window, upside down and still grinning. "Hey, hot legs! Ya miss me?"

* * *

Within the next twenty five to thirty minutes, news of Carnage's latest attack was made public. It was on every known news channel, on every working television in the city. Perhaps out of blind luck, Eddie was one of the many viewers watching the telecast. He really shouldn't have cared, wouldn't have until the victim was revealed to Ashley. She was still alive for the moment, but that was likely to change if Carnage had his way. Eddie was about ready to snap and he was quick to enter an alleyway. That was when his mind began racing, and he heard voices in his head. His own voice and that of the alien.

_I have to save her._ Eddie thought.

Apparently, the symbiote disagreed. _Save her from what? Let Kasady have his fun._

_ No, she's not part of this!_ Eddie thought.

_She was already dead when she met you. Besides, we still have bigger concerns. _The symbiote responded.

_ I don't care about that anymore,_ Eddie thought again. _I have to save Ashley._

_ The hell with her, _the symbiote responded. _Spider-Man is the only thing the matters and he deserves to die._

_But Ashley doesn't._

_ So, you'll willingly jeopardize our goals for one, insignificant woman?_

Before Eddie could answer the alien's question, he was suddenly pulled straight up at a rapid pace. Eddie knew the cause at halfway up his unintended ride. Once airborne, the symbiote enveloped Eddie until only his face remained visible. Sure enough, there was Spider-Man crouched over a ledge.

"You!" Eddie snapped.

"Eddie, I need your help." Spider-Man said.

"You need help alright, Spider-Man," Eddie said, and the symbiote enveloped his face. "Just not from us."

Venom quickly lunged right at Spider-Man, who was quick to leap out of the way. In mid air, Spider-Man shot two web lines at either side of Venom and then catapulted himself right at him. The hero scored a direct hit, and he and Venom went flying from one rooftop to the next one. Venom slammed back first into the ground, but he still was able to flip Spider-Man off of him. Venom nipped up and fired black lines at Spider-Man, which Spider-Man managed to dodge. Spider-Man shot off a series of web sphere, only to have them bounce off Venom's chest. Venom fired his own series of black spheres. Spider-Man dodged between the spheres, many of which leaving becoming embedded into the ground. Venom tackled Spider-Man to the ground, snarling in his masked face and attempting to crush him. Spider-Man shot a web line out and snagged a pipe, and then he pulled himself free. Venom still rammed his fists into the ground, only just realizing that Spider-Man wasn't there. Spider-Man lunged right at Venom and punched him right the jaw. Venom grabbed Spider-Man and held him in a bear hug.

"We're going to crush you with our bare hands." the villain snarled.

"Venom… you have… to listen to me," Spider-Man struggled to say, even as Venom squeezed him. "I didn't come… to fight you."

"We're not interested in listening to anything you say." Venom sneered.

"But… Ashley!" Spider-Man coughed Ashley's name.

Venom's grip suddenly loosened and he threw Spider-Man clear across the roof, all the while screaming, "SHUT UP!"

Spider-Man hit the ground with a thud, and he muttered, "Well, that struck a nerve!"

Venom leaped into the and came down with both fists driven into the ground where Spider-Man. "You don't get say her name, not in front of me."

Did Spider-Man hear that right? Did Venom just address himself in the singular instead of the plural? Spider-Man had to be reaching Eddie if he was talking like that. Venom refused to let Spider-Man have a moment's rest, continually lunging at him. Spider-Man, at that point, was playing keep away with Venom, angering his alien rival. Venom snarled and roared every time he missed his mark.

"Hold still, dammit!"

Spider-Man landed atop a ledge and said, "Eddie, if you really love that woman, then you'll stop and listen."

"I said SHUT UP," Eddie, not Venom, shouted. He fired a black sphere at Spider-Man, who easily dodged it. "If Kasady kills her, then why should I give a damn?"

Venom charged at Spider-Man head on, and Spider-Man easily tripped him. Venom went careening into a wall. Now, Spider-Man was damn sure that it was Eddie talking and not the symbiote. Venom appeared to not be finished, as well as appear to be fuming. He should've attacked right then, but he was hesitating. He shouldn't have been hesitating like this. There was no reason. Scratch that! There _was_ a reason.

"That bitch means absolutely nothing to me." Venom shouted and charged again.

"Liar," Spider-Man suddenly shouted back, and Venom stopped dead in his tracks. "You can keep this charade up as much and as long as you want to, but you'd better convince yourself first. Now, are you going to help me stop Carnage, or not? If not, then Ashley's as good as dead. You really want that on your conscience?"

Venom seethed at Spider-Man and wanted to pull his head off, but instead the symbiote receded from Eddie's face. "Alright, you win," he shouted, and then he finally calmed down. "I do love Ashley, and if saving her means I have to stomach you then I'll help stop Kasady."

"Hey, believe me Eddie," Spider-Man said. "I don't want this anymore than you do. But there's really no choice, is there? Besides, we _both _have something to fight for now."

Eddie moved to the edge of the roof and, without looking at Spider-Man, said, "This is temporary at best and when it's over, it's you and me. Until then," Eddie turned Spider-Man and the symbiote enveloped his face. "We're partners. For now!"

Venom shot out a line and swung ahead, and Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head muttering to himself, "That's it; I've completely lost my mind."

* * *

Alone in a dark room, Stan Carter was preparing for a very personal war. He wasn't wearing the police uniform, for there was no longer a need. Stan now wore all black; black trousers, a black and a black trench coat. A series of firearms lined a table, illuminated by only a ceiling light. Stan loaded a single pistol with bullets, and then a sawed off shotgun. He threw on a shoulder holster and then a holster around his waist. Stan took the shotgun in his hand and cocked it. He sighed as he removed his police badge; the last remnant of his previous occupation. He wouldn't need anymore, because likely wouldn't survive the night, so he threw it in the trash. Stan shut the light off before heading out the door, with one thing on his mind. They pushed him to this. They deserved what was coming to them. Carnage! Venom! Spider-Man! Everybody in between. Every liar, hypocrite and sinner. Stan Carter was going to make them all atone for their sins, or die trying.

* * *

Author's note: Don't you just love how things get so personal? I didn't originally intended for Stan Carter to become Sin-Eater (hell, I ain't even gonna address him as such) but he made this far so, what the heck? We're closing in on the final battle, so stay tuned. Adios!


	14. The Alliance

Disclaimer: It's time for the final battle, nuff' said. You know the drill, so let's get right into the carnage. See what I did there? (A blunt object strikes the head) OW! Who threw that?

* * *

Chapter XIV  
The Alliance

With an innocent woman's life on the line, it wasn't any surprise that Spider-Man had to align himself with Venom. Actually, trying to stop Carnage with help from a lovesick sociopath wasn't the web slinger's idea a buddy movie. And he and Venom were not buddies. Hell, Venom would likely turn on Spider-Man in a heartbeat. Spider-Man had more than enough reason to be wary of his _partner_. Did he just think that? He honestly wished he was instead playing Hide n' Seek with Black Cat, assuming she was still alive. Coming to a stop on a rooftop, Spider-Man overlooked the streets to try and spot some kind of movement. Venom came to rest next to him, snarling at the web head out of nothing more that sheer disgust and frustration.

"Okay, if I was a nasty, disgusting, psychopathic alien monstrosity, where would I be?" Spider-Man unknowingly quipped.

Venom glared at Spider-Man and audibly growled, "In a body bag!"

Spider-Man glared back Venom and snapped, "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I say that out loud?"

"You're way too low on the food chain to be mouthing off to us, Parker." Venom snapped.

"You're one to talk. Have you even seen your mouth?" Spider-Man quipped, much to Venom annoyance.

Venom quickly closed the distance between himself and Spider-Man. "Keep yapping and we'll leave you hanging here by your intestines."

Spider-Man actually shuddered at the notion Venom presented. "As sickening as that sounds, first we have to find Carnage."

"Any suggestions?"

Spider-Man thought about it for a few moments, and he had to think quickly should Venom have decided to tear his head off. "I think I've got a pretty good idea where Carnage might be hiding."

"Good," Venom snarled. "We can't wait to feast on his insides."

Spider-Man shuddered again and said, "You're disgusting, you know that?"

On the streets below, Stan Carter kept a very close eye on the initial targets of his ever increasing wrath. He had the sufficient provocation to want to kill them, and, watching Spider-Man and Venom swing off gave him motivation to follow. Stan had been following the unlikely duo for some time, reasoning that if he tailed them long enough, something would turn up. In all likelihood, they'd be leading Stan all the way to Carnage, his other intended target. Stan got into his car and followed Spider-Man and Venom. With any luck, they'd kill each other and save him the trouble, but Stan would no doubt prefer to end them all. And maybe after that, maybe Stan would likely turn his blinding wrath toward every other sinner in New York.

* * *

That hiding place that Spider-Man spoke of happened to be St. Este's orphanage, the same place where he'd first encountered Carnage. Venom was unusually skeptical but at the same time, wanted to get his hands around Carnage's throat. They stealthily crawled into the burned out half of the orphanage until they found Ashley sprawled out on the floor. The symbiote receded to show Eddie's face to be visibly stunned. He actually believed that Ashley was dead and moved to her, despite Spider-Man's attempts to stop him. Eddie cradled Ashley in his arm and realized she was breathing. Ashley slowly opened her eyes and saw Eddie.

"Eddie, is that you?"

Eddie fought to keep the tears from appearing. "I'm going to get you out of this, Ashley."

Spider-Man remained clung to the wall. Something wasn't right. He half-expected Carnage to kill Ashley. Why leave her alive? Unless! Suddenly, Carnage burst out of the wall and grasped Spider-Man with a myriad of blood tendrils. Carnage held Spider-Man up high, laughing as he proceeded to squeeze the life out of him. It wasn't until the timely intervention of Venom that Carnage released his grip. While Spider-Man hit the floor was a thud, Venom tackled Carnage through a series of weak walls and they both ended up outside the orphanage onto the street. Several cars veered away at the sight of the aliens villains. Inside the orphanage, Ashley attempted to revive Spider-Man.

"Are you okay, Spider-Man?" she asked.

Spider-Man picked himself up, saying, "I'm okay! Stay here and out of danger."

Outside, Carnage had Venom's head pinned to the asphalt. "You know, that was pretty good. For an old pile of ooze!"

"You'll find that we're full of surprises." Venom snarled.

Venom flipped Carnage up and over his head to the street, after which Carnage was upright. Carnage shot a blood tendril and snagged Venom, and Venom responded in kind. A Tug-o-War ensued, which Venom won. He swung Carnage around in a 360 and Carnage slammed into the side of a car. Carnage engulfed the car in tendrils and hurled it at Venom. Venom was able to leap over the airborne vehicle and again took Carnage down. Spider-Man intervened and caught the car in midair in a web net. Venom and Carnage continued to slug it out until Carnage threw Venom threw a department store window. Spider-Man shot out a series of web spheres, most of which Carnage couldn't block. Carnage didn't have to in the end. Carnage willed his right hand in finger spikes and shot them right at Spider-Man. Spider-Man leaped out of the way and onto a wall. Carnage again shot his fingers and Spider-Man again leaped out of the way. This time, Carnage anticipated it and caught Spider-Man by his leg. Carnage swung the hero around and hurled him right into Venom, both going right back into the destroyed store.

Carnage broke into a cackling. "I like this job, I like it! Now, where's my favorite meal ticket," By _meal ticket_, Carnage meant Ashley and he found her in the streets helping people. "There you are!"

Ashley had little chance to get away as Carnage snagged her and made a getaway. Ashley could still be heard screaming, "Eddie!"

Spider-Man picked himself up off of Venom and quipped, "Thanks for breaking my fall!"

"Get off or we'll break your neck." Venom snarled.

"Charming!" Spider-Man quipped before swinging up toward the rooftop, with Venom following.

"What took ya song long?" Carnage was standing on the other end of the roof, dangling Ashley over the edge. Venom made a move and Carnage said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"C'mon, Carnage," Spider-Man shouted. "If you were a real badass, you wouldn't hide behind a defenseless woman."

"What're you doing?" Venom mumbled.

Before Spider-Man could answer, Carnage snarled, "You sayin' I ain't a badass? I'll show you, man!"

Without a word, Spider-Man swung away and Venom was forced to follow. Carnage followed with Ashley in tow. Spider-Man's bluff appeared to going without a hitch as he swung toward the one place no one expected. Hell, even he was shocked at the fact that he was headed for OsCorp. In the meantime, Stan Carter followed the trio of adversaries to the exact same destination. A shotgun at his side, Carter was ready for war.

* * *

OsCorp was the former home away from home of the late Norman Osborn, and where he ultimately became the Green Goblin. It was the last place Spider-Man wanted to be, with Venom, to fight Carnage. There wasn't much choice. Spider-Man landed on the front grounds of the complex. Carnage was likely to follow. Spider-Man took a long look the complex once owned by Osborn, the first villain he'd faced. It amazed the hero, just how large the place was and the roll it played in the birth of the Green Goblin and possibly, the Hobgoblin. Venom landed right beside Spider-Man, snarling with frustration.

"You better have a good reason for bringing us here." Venom snarled.

"Trust me; I've got a few ideas." Spider-Man stated.

"Oh yeah," Venom snarled again. "They've been great so far."

Carnage landed atop the front gate and shrieked at the duo, still grasping Ashley in the air. Carnage unleashed a series of blood darts that Spider-Man and Venom avoided. Venom shot a black line and managed to snag Ashley. He attempted to pull her free, but Carnage wasn't willing to release her. The aliens pulled hard, and all they were accomplishing was causing harm to Ashley. Just when it appeared that Carnage would win out, Spider-Man shot a series of web spheres at the villain. Carnage was distracted long enough for Venom to pull Ashley free. Enraged, Carnage lunged at Venom but Spider-Man intercepted him while Venom took Ashley to safety. Venom hid out with Ashley behind a structure.

The symbiote receded so Eddie could show his face. "Ashley, stay here and don't move. No matter what happens, do not move."

"But, Eddie, you could die!" Ashley said.

Eddie stopped short and simply said, "Been there, done that!"

Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Carnage traded shots back and forth, with Carnage having a decided advantage. Spider-Man was forced to dodge Carnage's attacks, which included axes, spears, blood darts and everything in between. Taking a brief refuge on any available wall, Spider-Man struck back with web spheres. Carnage blocked the projectiles with little effort, snagged Spider-Man from the wall and threw him to the ground. Before Carnage could deliver a killing strike, Venom tackled him to the ground. Carnage kicked Venom off and shot more blood darts. Venom actually took the darts to his chest and they bounced right back at Carnage. Carnage dodged and tried to skewer Venom with a blood spear, and Venom dodged the attack. The alien villains reached a stalemate.

Carnage noticed Spider-Man getting up and turned to Venom. "When did you get so sentimental, _dad_? Think of the damage we could do to this city, starting with the bug!"

Venom glared at Spider-Man, then at Carnage. "You know something; you're right!"

Spider-Man noticed Venom and Carnage skulking toward him and muttered, "Oh, you've got to kidding me!"

Before Carnage could attack, Venom suddenly pulled and threw him into a steel gate. "Spider-Man is ours and ours alone!"

Carnage got up and prepared to make his next move. Spider-Man and Venom prepared themselves as well, until Spider-Man's spider-sense went off. Seeing as neither symbiote was capable of setting it off, Spider-Man looked passed Venom and Carnage. A vehicle came crashing right through the front gate. Carnage was hit head on, while Spider-Man jumped to the side and Venom ran right over the vehicle. The vehicle skidded to a sudden stop, and Stan Carter emerged with shotgun in hand. Spider-Man saw the look on Carter's and it was very clear that he was very angry. Cocking the gun, Carter shot the Carnage first and then Venom, before turning toward Spider-Man.

"Carter, what're you doing here?"

Instead of answering, Carter took a shot that Spider-Man dodged. "I'm making sure you don't leave here alive. You deserve to die after what happened to Jean." Carter fired again and Spider-Man dodged.

"Don't do this, Carter!"

"Shut up," Carter yelled. "I'm gonna kill you, then the aliens and then everyone else."

Before Carter could his next shot, Venom snagged the shotgun out his hand. Venom snapped the gun across his leg before Carnage kicked him to the ground. Carnage tried to make a getaway and Spider-Man and Venom gave chase. Carter refused to be denied his vengeance, pulled out a single pistol and ran after them. Carnage swung up high with Spider-Man and Venom closing. They battled back and forth while swinging in between a series of smokestacks. Carnage shot out blood darts that became embedded into the concrete stack, followed by blood tendrils. Venom responded with his own tendrils, while Spider-Man shot web lines and web spheres. Venom shot his own version of the sphere and Carnage blocked them. Carnage sent a symbiote spear at both foes. Venom avoided the attack and tackled Carnage in midair. They beat each other relentlessly as the fell down to a building roof. On impact, the aliens crashed right through the roof and into the building. Carnage threw Venom off but then a pair of web lines snagged his shoulders. Spider-Man sling shot himself into the building and kicked Carnage in the jaw. The impact sent Carnage into a wall but he wasn't close to finished. Carnage willed his fingers into spikes and extended them. Spider-Man managed to dodge the attack and responded with web lines. Carnage caught the lines and threw Spider-Man right through a window to the outside. Venom tackled Carnage and they went right through a wall and back outside with Spider-Man following close behind. Spider-Man tried to get up while Venom and Carnage clawed at each other and noticed a furnace at the base of a smokestack. Then it hit him.

_Fire! _Spider-Man looked toward the battling aliens. "Venom, the furnace! Throw him into the fire."

Venom most likely didn't hear Spider-Man the first time, considering he and Carnage were locked in a stalemate. But then Venom glanced at the furnace and prepared to throw Carnage to it. Unfortunately, Carter reappeared with pistol in hand and took shot after shot at the trio. The man was relentless in his pursuit of vengeance, but obviously blinded by madness. Spider-Man was the first to leap clear of the barrage, followed by Venom. Carter ultimately ignored them and went right for Carnage, unloading bullet after bullet. To Carnage, every single bullet to be more annoying than anything. Carter didn't care as Carter ultimately emptied the clip his gun. Carnage ultimately shot a spear right through Carter's chest.

"That was really annoying." Carnage snarled.

Tossing Carter's limp form to the side, Carnage returned his attention to Spider-Man and shot out a tendril. Spider-Man avoided the tendril and shot more web spheres and then ducked. Venom appeared above Spider-Man and lunged at Carnage, taking him down. Carnage recovered and fought Venom and Spider-Man at the same time, all the while unknowingly being forced toward the opened furnace. Despite being double teamed, Carnage still managed to hold his own until he gave off a frightening roar. Backing off, Carnage unleashed an entire stream of tendrils going in every direction. The tendrils knocked Venom clear across the area, but Spider-Man continued fighting. Spider-Man finally began making a huge dent in Carnage's defense, landing blow after blow and moving the villain closer to the furnace. Inches away, the furnace ignited and the fire sent Carnage shrieking in pain. Spider-Man back flipped away, fired two lines at the smokestack and prepare to sling shoot himself toward Carnage. Carnage was ready and snagged Spider-Man by his leg, pulling him toward the fire.

"If I'm gonna burn, then I ain't going in there alone," Carnage said as Spider-Man tried to break free. Carnage willed his free arm into an axe and snarled, "How about a little trim, man?"

Spider-Man suddenly blinded Carnage with webbing but still couldn't get free. Carnage still reared his axe hand back and was primed to deliver the final blow. Maybe he'd miss the target. Then again, maybe not. Carnage opened his needled maw and roared before Venom appeared out of nowhere and swung his massive feet into the villain's chest. The momentum sent Carnage flying right into the furnace, into the fire. Spider-Man quickly closed and sealed the grate shut with webbing. Carnage, or at least the symbiote, could be heard screaming in protest as he was incinerated. Spider-Man backed away from the furnace as the alien's screams of protest died down.

"Well, that was fun, and for once, my suit wasn't torn," Spider-Man quipped, unknowingly backing into Venom, who was growling. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Venom drove one fist into his open hand and snarled, "It's time to finish what we started."

Spider-Man backed away and defiantly said, "Alright fine! I've still got plenty of fight left."

Before Venom and Spider-Man could come to blows, Ashley arrived and said, "No, Eddie. Don't do it. Please!"

Venom was so tempted to tear into Spider-Man, but the symbiote receded from Eddie's face. "I won't do it, then."

Eddie was ready to leave but Spider-Man stopped and held out his hand. "I owe you one, Eddie. Thanks for saving my life."

Eddie slapped Spider-Man's hand away and said, "I don't want or need your thanks. Tonight doesn't change a damn thing between us," Eddie went face to masked face. "The next time we ever see each other, all bet's are off," Eddie moved closer and whispered, "In the meantime, you'd better take care of your child."

Eddie jumped up onto the wall and ready to depart, but Ashley called, "Eddie, you don't have to leave. I can still help you."

Without looking, Eddie said, "You can't help me, Ashley."

Tears were forming in Ashley's eyes. "Eddie, please don't go. Please!"

Eddie glanced at Ashley for a final time and, as the symbiote slowly enveloped his face, he said, "I'll always love you."

Eddie's face disappeared, leaving only the face of Venom. Without another word, Venom swung away into the night. Ashley sank to her knee and broke into tears. Spider-Man was probably the most confused he'd ever been in his life. He was both shocked and amazed that Venom just left instead of finishing that he started so long ago. For whatever the notion was worth, at least the city was once again safe. Carnage was gone forever, and hopefully, so was Venom. At least Spider-Man hoped!

* * *

Author's note: Another chapter finished, and that spells the end for Carnage, and Stan Carter. There's still one last chapter coming up followed the CAST chapter, so let me know what you think.


	15. Moving On

Disclaimer: This is the final chapter and it has been a blast. Of course, I still don't own the rights to Spider-Man, but I can't grieve forever. After this, I'm gonna find the jackass who threw that rock at my head.

* * *

Chapter XV  
Moving On

Spider-Man escorted Ashley to the window of her apartment. Both were generally still stinging after the events at Oscorp. In essence, Ashley was probably more stunned following the defeat of Carnage and the subsequent, and unexpected departure of Venom. Spider-Man didn't really know how to feel. It was a mixed bag of emotions for him. Spider-Man opened the window so Ashley could get through into the apartment but Ashley stalled. Spider-Man could sense that her mind was racing. Ashley wiped a tear from her face at glanced at Spider-Man.

"I wish I could've been able to help him." Ashley finally said.

Spider-Man sighed, "I think you did, in a way."

"Maybe," Ashley said. "I guess Eddie couldn't bear to live like a monster. I pray that wherever he is, he's found some semblance of peace."

Spider-Man was silent for a moment, and then said, "I hope so too, doctor. More than you know."

As Spider-Man prepared to leave, Ashley said, "I don't want to accuse you of anything, but is it true? Did you have some role in ruining Eddie's life?"

Spider-Man hung his head. If only Ashley knew. "I some ways, I am responsible. That's something I'll have to live with, and believe me; I'm learning to live with a lot of things."

Ashley nodded and without another word, Spider-Man swung off into the distance. Ashley quickly slipped all the way into her home and watched Spider-Man disappear into the night. Spider-Man was thinking about a lot of things, and too many things at one time. All he wanted to do now was return home to be with Mary Jane and their unborn child. At the same time, Spider-Man couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't seen the last of Venom. Venom may very well have been Spider-Man greatest rival, but in the very end, he proved to his greatest ally.

* * *

Nine months later, it finally happened. Peter rushed through Manhattan General as he being chased by Wile E. Coyote. According to the receptionist he'd met earlier, Mary Jane was being kept in Room 341. Aunt May promised to watch her until Peter could get there. Peter would've been there sooner if it weren't for his latest run-in with Shocker. Peter found aunt May standing outside of Mary Jane's room.

"Aunt May, I'm here."

"Peter," aunt May exclaimed as she embraced Peter. "She's resting comfortably and waiting for you."

Peter pulled away and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for keeping an eye on her."

May chuckled. "We're family, Peter, and it was the least I could do. Now, get in there. They're waiting for you."

Peter nodded and started into the room. He found Mary Jane resting in a hospital bed, with the sun shining through the window. She looked absolutely exhausted from the ordeal of birth, and yet so peaceful. Peter noticed a small object wrapped in a blanket held in Mary Jane's arms. Mary Jane began to stir ever so slightly from her slumber and noticed Peter standing in the doorway. She smiled as Peter quietly sat down at her bedside.

"Hi!" Peter whispered.

"Hi," MJ whispered back, and she finally revealed the new addition to the Parker family. "It's a girl!"

A baby girl! Peter had to take her in his arms. She was adorable, her eyes were closed and she made very subtle movements. It was all Peter could do to keep himself from crying. Mary Jane never stopped smiling even as Peter returned the baby to her. Aunt May stood in the doorway, also smiling at the sight. Peter leaned in a little closer and hugged Mary Jane gently as they watched their newborn baby girl wiggle her digits. Mary Jane looked to be ready to cry, as was Peter.

"What should we call her?" MJ asked.

Peter had to think about that, even looking at aunt May for some advice. "We could name her after your aunt?"

"After my aunt, no," Mary Jane exclaimed. "Let's name her after yours; let's call her May."

Peter smiled even wider that he thought he could manage. "Okay, May it is; May Parker."

Mary Jane smiled as Peter leaned in and kissed his wife, and then kissed little May Parker on her forehead. May continued to wiggle around in the blanket as her parents looked on. It was truly the happiest moment of their collective lives. Without question, Peter felt in his heart that uncle Ben was looking down on his nephew. Peter knew, just knew that his uncle was proud.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the country, night fell on the city of San Francisco. The full moon shone on a single, dark figure resting atop the Golden Gate Bridge. For truly the first time in life, Eddie Brock was alone, but no truly alone. The alien symbiote remained silent, while Eddie was both his thoughts and those of the alien. It had been a long, hard and winding road for both. But, it was a road Eddie chose to travel. He'd left it all behind. There was nothing left for him in New York; nothing he wanted or needed or deserved. And he was okay with that. Eddie then heard very faint whining of police sirens in the distance.

"Time to go to work." he said to himself.

Eddie backed away from the edge, wanting to gain a good head start. The symbiote enveloped his face and he unleashed a frightening howl, not unlike that a wolf. Eddie was finished being an animal. He would prove to himself that he was not a monster. The symbiote made him a monster, but Eddie would no longer answer to the alien. Now, the alien answered to Eddie. If Spider-Man could save lives, so could Eddie Brock. Only he wouldn't be pulling any punches. Eddie sprinted and then leaped from the bridge and swung toward the sounds of the sirens. He would no longer be a monster; no longer an animal. Eddie Brock would be dark savior. He would be a silent stalker. He would be a lethal protector. He would forever be…Venom.

* * *

Author's note: It's finally over! Peter and MJ finally have a bundle of joy that will probably grow up to become Spider-Girl. And, Venom has become the Lethal Protector we all know and love. Sort of! The CAST chapter is coming right up so tell me what you think. Adios!


	16. Cast of SPIDER MAN 6

Disclaimer: This is, as you'd probably guess, the cast listing for Spider-Man 6. The ending song is "Forever With You" by Decyfer Down.

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CAST

Spider-Man/Peter Parker-----------------------Tobey Maguire

_(Like shooting stars/How brief we are/I wish this moment could last forever)_

Mary Jane Watson/Parker-----------------------Kirsten Dunst

_(Here with you/I am made new/I want to live like every breath matters)_

J. Jonah Jameson-----------------------------------JK Simmons

_(You're not so far away/Just hear when I say)_

May Parker-------------------------------------Rosemary Harris

_(I wanna love what you love/I wanna see what see what you see/I want a heart that burns like a fire in me)_

Venom/Eddie Brock Jr.----------------------------Topher Grace

_(I want your light in my life/I want my heart renewed/Here I am/Forever with You)_

Carnage/Cletus Kasady-----------------------Steven Pasquale

_(The falling rain/Can bring a change/I never knew how far that I could fall)_

Jean DeWolff--------------------------------------Naomi Harris

_(I can hardly wait/Til I see you face-to-face/I can't believe your love remains the same)_

Ashley Kafka--------------------------------------Olivia Wilde

_(You're not so far away/Just hear when I say)_

Stan Carter---------------------------------------Marc Warren

_(I wanna love what you love/I wanna see what see what you see/I want a heart that burns like a fire in me)_

Ben Reilly---------------------------------------Justin Chatwin

_(I want your light in my life/I want my heart renewed/Here I am/Forever with You)_

Betty Brant-------------------------------------Elizabeth Banks

_(Now that I'm here/After all I've been through)_

Joseph "Robbie Robertson---------------------------Bill Nunn

_(I just can't live without/The grace you gave to me)_

Hoffman-----------------------------------------------Ted Raimi

_(Now I see what you see/Your beautiful life forever in me)_

Shriek/Sandra Deel----------------------------------Mila Kunis

_(I wanna love what you love/I wanna see what see what you see/I want a heart that burns like a fire in me)_

Liz Allen-------------------------------------------Jessica Lucas

_(I want your light in my life/I want my heart renewed/Here I am)_

Flash Thompson-------------------------------Joe Manganiello

_(Here I am)  
_

Security Guard-----------------------------------Bruce Campbell

_(Here I am)_

News Cameraman---------------------------------------Stan Lee

_(Here I am/Forever With you)

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_

Author's note: So ends the Spider-Man fanfiction trilogy. I hope to the heavens above you all enjoyed the ride. Leave a few reviews and thanks for the support. This is KiloWhiskeyOscar saying good night.


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